Martin Luther Quotes
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God the Almighty has made our rulers mad; they actually think they can do—and order their subjects to do—whatever they please. And the subjects make the mistake of believing that they, in turn, are bound to obey their rulers in everything.
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The devil, the originator of sorrowful anxieties and restless troubles, flees before the sound of music almost as much as before the Word of God....Music is a gift and grace of God, not an invention of men. Thus it drives out the devil and makes people cheerful. Then one forgets all wrath, impurity, and other devices.
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How can a reason which hates God be called sound?
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The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that he sunk himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding.
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The authority of Scripture is greater than the comprehension of the whole of man's reason.
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Blessed is he who submits to the will of God; he can never be unhappy.
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I must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism, and am glad so to remain.
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I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict Scripture.
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Where faith is not continually kept in motion and exercised, it weakens and decreases, so that it must indeed vanish; and yet we do not see nor feel this weakness ourselves, except in times of need and temptation, when unbelief rages too strongly; and yet for that very reason faith must have temptations in which it may battle and grow.
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Cannons and fire-arms are cruel and damnable machines; I believe them to have been the direct suggestion of the Devil. If Adam had seen in a vision the horrible instruments his children were to invent, he would have died of grief.
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Everything is from God himself, both commandment and fulfillment. He alone commands; he alone fulfills.
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Regarding the plan to collect my writings in volumes, I am quite cool and not at all eager about it because, roused by a Saturnian hunger, I would rather see them all devoured. For I acknowledge none of them to be really a book of mine, except perhaps the one On the Bound Will and the Catechism.
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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 out of clay.
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The hair is the finest ornament women have. Of old, virgins used to wear it loose, except when they were in mourning.
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On the Ninety-five Theses:
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No man understands the Scriptures, unless he be acquainted with the Cross.
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If the heart has been reformed by the spirit, it makes use of both the useful and delightful things created and given by God in a holy manner and with thanksgiving.
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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.
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I should have no compassion on these witches; I should burn them all.
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My temptations have been my Masters of Divinity.
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If Church history teaches us anything, it is that we cannot afford to be a vacillating Church. We minister to a people who are in great need of hearing truth, we dare not make any attempt to soft pedal that glorious truth.
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Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart.
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The article of justification is fragile. Not in itself, of course, but in us. I know how quickly a person can forfeit the joy of the Gospel.
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Our suffering is not worthy the name of suffering. When I consider my crosses, tribulations, and temptations, I shame myself almost to death, thinking what are they in comparison of the sufferings of my blessed Savior Christ Jesus.