'When two such come together as I and Goethe,' Beethoven once declared, 'great lords must note what it is that passes for greatness with such as we. Yesterday, as we were returning homewards, we met the whole Imperial family. We saw them coming at some distance, whereupon Goethe disengaged himself from my arm, in order that he might stand aside. In spite of all I could say, I could not bring him a step forward. I crushed my hat more furiously on my head, buttoned up my top coat, and walked with my arms folded behind me, right through the thickest of the crowd. Princes and officials made a lane for me: Archduke Rudolph took off his hat. The Empress saluted me the first - these great people know me! It was the greatest fun in the world to me, to see the procession file past Goethe. He stood aside, with his hat off, bending his head down as low as possible.'

footnote: Sir Mick Jagger is, of course, the Goethe of our time, albeit minus the towering intellect.

Which reminds me of a favourite Mick Jagger story -- George Melly met Jagger for the first time at a party. 'I didn't expect you to have so many wrinkles', said Melly. 'They're not wrinkles, they're laughter lines', Jagger replied. 'But surely', said Melly, 'nothing could be that funny.'