The Protestant reformer Martin Luther was an often controversial figure. His support of the suppression of the rebelling German peasantry and his various anti-Semitic remarks are hard to reconcile with the many good things that he did that set the Western world on the path toward freedom of religion. I was aware of his fondness for good beer and his admonition that we "sin boldly", but apart from this first little aphorism I was not aware of the many words of wisdom that Luther had to offer.
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Martin Luther:
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity, it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it.
In the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there.
When schools flourish, all flourishes.
Nothing good ever comes of violence.
Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.
God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees, and flowers, and clouds, and stars.
I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self.
Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave.
Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God.
Peace if possible, truth at all costs.
Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace.
There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.
Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.
You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.
Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
Pray, and let God worry.
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3 comments:
A tiny little bit anti-Semitic.
He said in regard to the jews, that they should be deprived of "all their cash and jewels and silver and gold ... their synagogues or schools be set on fire, that their houses be broken up and destroyed ... and they be put under a roof or stable, like the gypsies ... in misery and captivity as they incessantly lament and complain to God about us."
The Nazi's took that last part literally as partial justification for the concentration camps.
as quoted in William Shirer's the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
Very sad, isn't it? That's why I called the post "surprising".
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