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Martin Luther

168 quotes

• “The Law continues to exist and to function. But it no longer exists for me.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “When you see a person squirming in the clutches of the Law, say to him: “Brother, get things straight. You let the Law talk to your conscience. Make it talk to your flesh.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I know that a Christian should be humble, but against the Pope I am going to be proud and say to him: “You, Pope, I will not have you for my boss, for I am sure that my doctrine is divine.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The true Gospel has it that we are justified by faith alone, without the deeds of the Law.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “To turn one's eyes away from Jesus means to turn them to the Law.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “... a penny saved is better than a penny earned.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1539 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Duty of a Husband and Wife (17 March 1539), No. 4408. LW 54:337

• “Let us not flutter too high, but remain by the manger and the swaddling clothes of Christ, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Superstition, idolatry, and hypocrisy have ample wages, but truth goes a-begging.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Clergy is the greatest hindrance to faith.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel...Thus is the Devil ever God's ape.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “so it is with human reason, which strives not against faith, when enlightened, but rather furthers and advances it.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Mother love is stronger than the filth and scabbiness on a child, and so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A faithful and good servant is a real godsend; but truly 'tis a rare bird in the land.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Mass is the greatest blasphemy of God, and the highest idolatry upon earth, an abomination the like of which has never been in Christendom since the time of the Apostles.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am entirely of the opinion that the papacy is the Antichrist. But if anyone wants to add the Turk, then the Pope is the spirit of the Antichrist, and the Turk is the flesh of the Antichrist. They help each other in their murderous work. The latter slaughters bodily and by the sword, the former spiritually and by doctrine.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I have greater confidence in my wife and my pupils than I have in Christ”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but--more frequently than not--struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Out of special hatred for our faith, the devil has sent some whores here to destroy our poor young men . . . such a syphilitic whore can poison ten, twenty, thirty or more of the children of good people, and thus is to be considered a murderer, or worse, as a poisoner.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “And I must speak plainly. If I were a judge, I would have such a poisonous, syphilitic whore tortured by being broken on the wheel and having her veins lacerated, for it is not to be denied what damage such a filthy whore does to young blood, so that it is unspeakably damaged before it is even fully grown and destroyed in the blood.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: pp. 552-554 (1566); cited in Susan C. Karant-Nunn & Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks [editors and translators], Luther on Women: a Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 157-158)

• “The reproduction of mankind is a great marvel and mystery. Had God consulted me in the matter, I should have advised him to continue the generation of the species by fashioning them of clay, in the way Adam was fashioned.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “But the Jews are so hardened that they listen to nothing; though overcome by testimonies they yield not an inch. It is a pernicious race, oppressing all men by their usury and rapine. If they give a prince or magistrate a thousand florins, they extort twenty thousand from the subjects in payment. We must ever keep on guard against them.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “When the devil comes at night to worry me, this is what I say to him: “Devil, I have to sleep now. That is God’s commandment, for us to work by day and sleep at night.” If he keeps on nagging me and trots out my sins, then I answer: “Sweet devil, I know the whole list. But I have done even more sin which is not on your list. Write there also that I have shit in my breeches. Hang it around your neck and wipe your mouth on it.” Then, if he won’t cease to accuse me of sins, I say in contempt: “Holy Satan, pray for me.” ("Sancte Satane, ora pro me").”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: In, I Am a Christian: The Nun, the Devil, and Martin Luther, Carolyn M. Schneider, Fortress Press 2010, p. 49. (citing in Notes (p. 148), WA, Tr 2:131–32).

• “I think these things [firearms] were invented by Satan himself, for they can’t be defended against with (ordinary) weapons and fists. All human strength vanishes when confronted with firearms. A man is dead before he sees what’s coming.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “They are splendidly built [Italian Hospitals], the best food and drink are at hand, the attendants are very diligent, the physicians are learned, the beds and coverings are very clean, and the bedsteads are painted. As soon as a sick man is brought in, all his clothes are taken off in the presence of a notary and are faithfully kept for him. He is then laid in a handsomely painted bed with clean sheets. Two physicians are fetched at once. Attendants come with food and drink, served in immaculate glass vessels; these are not touched with as much as a finger but are brought on a tray.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Wir sind bettler. Hoc est verum.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1546 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Last Written Words of Luther," Table Talk No. 5468, (16 February 1546), in Dr. Martin Luthers Werke (1909) as translated by James A. Kellerman, Band 85 (TR 5) 317–318

• “Never any good came out of female domination. God created Adam master and lord of living creatures, but Eve spoiled it all.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The hair is the finest ornament women have. . . . I like women to let their hair fall down their back, it is a most agreeable sight.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Women . . . have . . . small and narrow chests, and broad hips, to the end they should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children. . . . A woman is, or at least should be, a friendly, courteous, and a merry companion in life . . . the honor and ornament of the house, and inclined to tenderness, for thereunto are they chiefly created, to bear children, and to be the pleasure, joy and solace of their husbands.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “What defects women have, we must check them for in private, gently by word of mouth, for woman is a frail vessel.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Faith, like light, should ever be simple and unbending; while love, like warmth, should beam forth on every side, and bend to every necessity of our brethren.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Faith looks to the word and the promise; that is, to the truth. But hope looks to that which the word has promised, to the gift.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We believe that the very beginning and end of salvation, and the sum of Christianity, consists of faith in Christ, who by His blood alone, and not by any works of ours, has put away sin, and destroyed the power of death.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Faith ever says, "If Thou wilt," not "If Thou canst.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We may search long to find where God is, but we shall find Him in those who keep the words of Christ. For the Lord Christ saith, " If any man love me, he will keep my words; and we will make our abode with him.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The believing man hath the Holy Ghost; and where the Holy Ghost dwelleth, He will not suffer a man to be idle, butstirreth him up to all exercises of piety and godliness, and of true religion, to the love of God, to the patient suffering of afflictions, to prayer, to thanksgiving, and the exercise of charity towards all men.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Merit is a work for the sake of which Christ gives rewards. But no such work is to be found, for Christ gives by promise. Just as if a prince should say to me, "Come to me in my castle, and I will give you a hundred florins." I do a work, certainly, in going to the castle, but the gift is not given me as the reward of my work in going, but because the prince promised it to me.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Let us keep to Christ, and cling to Him, and hang on Him, so that no power can remove us.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “… my Latin and German propositions. You wonder I did not tell you of them. But I did not wish to have them widely circulated. I only intended submitting them to a few learned men for examination, and if they disapproved of them, to suppress them — or make them known through their publications, in the event of their meeting with your approval. But now they are being spread abroad and translated everywhere, which I never could have credited, so that I regret having given birth to them — not that I am unwilling to proclaim the truth manfully, for there is nothing I more ardently desire, but because this way of instructing the people is of little avail. As yet I am still uncertain as to some points, and would have gone into others more particularly, leaving some out entirely, had I foreseen all this.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Lastly, we must also know what Baptism signifies, and why God has ordained just such external sign and ceremony for the Sacrament by which we are first received into the Christian Church. But the act or ceremony is this, that we are sunk under the water, which passes over us, and afterwards are drawn out again. These two parts, to be sunk under the water and drawn out again, signify the power and operation of Baptism, which is nothing else than putting to death the old Adam, and after that the resurrection of the new man, both of which must take place in us all our lives, so that a truly Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever to be continued.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1529 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: On Infant Baptism," Large Catechism (1529)

• “But the exceedingly foul deed of Onan, the basest of wretches, follows. Onan must have been a malicious and incorrigible scoundrel. This is a most disgraceful sin. It is far more atrocious than incest and adultery. We call it unchastity, yes a Sodomitic sin. For Onan goes in to her; that is, he lies with her and copulates, and when it comes to the point of insemination, spills the semen, lest the woman conceive. Surely at such a time the order of nature established by God in procreation should be followed. Accordingly, it was a most disgraceful crime to produce semen and excite the woman, and to frustrate her at that very moment.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Luther's works Vol. 7 (1965), Lectures on Genesis, Chapters 38-44

• “August 25, 1538, the conversation fell upon witches who spoil milk, eggs, and butter in farm yards. Dr. Luther said: “I should have no compassion on these witches; I would burn all of them. We read in the old law, that the priests threw the first stone at such malefactors, `Tis said this stolen butter turns rancid, and falls to the ground when any one goes to eat it. He who attempts to counteract and chastise these witches, is himself corporally plagued and tormented by their master, the devil. Sundry schoolmasters and ministers have often experienced this. Our ordinary sins offend and anger God. What, then, must be his wrath against witchcraft, which we may justly designate high treason against divine majesty, a revolt against the infinite power of God. The jurisconsults who have so learnedly and pertinently treated of rebellion, affirm that the subject who rebels against his sovereign, is worthy of death. Does not witchcraft, then, merit death, which is a revolt of the creature against the Creator, a denial to God of the authority it accords to the demon?”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1538 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Statement of 25 August 1538, in Table-Talk, as translated by William Hazlitt (1857), DLXXVII

• “Although indulgences are the very merits of Christ and of His saints and so should be treated with all reverence, they have in fact nonetheless become a shocking exercise of greed. For who actually seeks the salvation of souls through indulgences, and not instead money for his coffers? This is evident from the way indulgences are preached. For the commissioners and preachers do nothing but extol indulgences and incite the people to contribute. You hear no one instructing the people about what indulgences are, or about how much they grant, or about the purpose they serve. Instead, all you hear is how much one must contribute. The people are always left in ignorance, so that they come to think that by gaining indulgences they are at once saved.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1517 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Tractatus de indulgentiis per Doctorem Martinum ordinis s. Augustini Wittenbergae editus., or, A Treatise on Indulgences Published by Doctor Martin of the Order of St. Augustine in Wittenberg. To Archbishop Albrecht of …

• “I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme. Every institution that does not unceasingly pursue the study of God's word becomes corrupt. Because of this we can see what kind of people they become in the universities and what they are like now. Nobody is to blame for this except the pope, the bishops, and the prelates, who are all charged with training young people. The universities only ought to turn out men who are experts in the Holy Scriptures, men who can become bishops and priests, and stand in the front line against heretics, the devil, and all the world. But where do you find that? I greatly fear that the universities, unless they teach the Holy Scriptures diligently and impress them on the young students, are wide gates to hell.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1520 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: To the Christian Nobility of the German States (1520), translated by Charles M. Jacobs, reported in rev. James Atkinson, The Christian in Society, I (Luther's Works, ed. James Atkinson, vol. 44), p. 207 (1966)

• “Here you should be guided by the words of St. Paul, I Corinthians 7 [:4–5], “The husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does; likewise the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does. Do not deprive each other, except by agreement,” etc. Notice that St. Paul forbids either party to deprive the other, for by the marriage vow each submits his body to the other in conjugal duty. When one resists the other and refuses the conjugal duty she is robbing the other of the body she had bestowed upon him. This is really contrary to marriage, and dissolves the marriage. For this reason the civil government must compel the wife, or put her to death. If the government fails to act, the husband must reason that his wife has been stolen away and slain by robbers; he must seek another. We would certainly have to accept it if someone’s life were taken from him. Why then should we not also accept it if a wife steals herself away from her husband, or is stolen away by others?”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1522 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Estate of Marriage, 1522, translated by Walther I. Brandt, from Luther's Works, Vol. 45, pp. 32-34); as quoted in Martin Luther: Execute Adulterers, Witches, Frigid Wives, & Prostitutes, Pagadian Diocese, October 26…

• “In particular, at this point also urge governing authorities and parents to rule well and to send their children to school. Point out how they are obliged to do so and what a damnable sin they commit if they do not, for thereby, as the worst enemies of God and humanity, they overthrow and lay waste both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. Explain very clearly what kind of horrible damage they do when they do not help to train children as pastors, preachers, civil servants, etc., and tell them that God will punish them dreadfully for this. For in our day and age it is necessary to preach about these things. The extent to which parents and governing authorities are now sinning in these matters defies description. The devil, too, intends to do something horrible in all this.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Foreword to the small catechismus, as quoted in the Preface, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (2000) by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, p. 19

• “We have now completed both the spiritual and the temporal government, that is, the divine and the paternal authority and obedience. But here now we go forth from our house among our neighbors to learn how we should live with one another, every one himself toward his neighbor. Therefore God and government are not included in this commandment nor is the power to kill, which they have taken away. For God has delegated His authority to punish evil-doers to the government instead of parents, who aforetime (as we read in Moses) were required to bring their own children to judgment and sentence them to death. Therefore, what is here forbidden is forbidden to the individual in his relation to any one else, and not to the government.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1529 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/wittenberg/luther/catechism/web/cat-07.html The Large Catechism by Martin Luther, Translated by F. Bente and W.H.T. Dau Published in: Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of t…

• “Labour therefore diligently, that not only out of the time of temptation, but also in the time and conflict of death, when thy conscience is thoroughly afraid with the remembrance of thy sins past, and the devil assaileth thee with great violence, going about to overwhelm thee with heaps, floods and whole seas of sins, to terrify thee, to draw thee from Christ, and to drive thee to despair; that then I say, thou mayest be able to say with sure confidence: Christ the Son of God was given, not for the righteous and holy, but for the unrighteous and sinners.... If he gave himself to death for our sins, then undoubtedly he is no tyrant or judge which will condemn us for our sins. He is no caster-down of the afflicted, but a raiser-up of those that are fallen, a merciful reliever and comforter of the heavy and broken-hearted. Else should Paul lie in saying: "which gave himself for our sins.”

  Martin Luther (1483–1546) first seen 1535 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: A Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians (1535. Translation revised 1953 by Philip S Watson. On Galatians 1:4.)

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