This month Germany is celebrating the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s reformation. Reformation Day is on the 31st October, the day, when in 1517 Luther nailed 95 theses onto the door of the castle church in Wittenberg.
If you want to read them, they can be found here in German and here in English, but in this post I want to give you 10 of Luther’s sayings:
1/ Wer nicht liebt Wein, Weiber und Gesang, der bleibt ein Narr sein Leben lang.
He who loves not wine, women and song remains a fool his whole life long.
2/ Eine Lüge ist wie ein Schneeball: Je länger man ihn wälzt, desto größer wird er.
A lie is like a snowball, the longer it is rolled the greater it becomes.
3/ Wenn Du die Welt verändern willst, nimm einen Stift und schreib.
If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.
4/ Anstrengungen machen gesund und stark.
Efforts make you healthy and strong.
5/ Iss, was gar ist, trink, was klar ist, red, was wahr ist.
Eat what is cooked, drink what is clear, speak what is true.
6/ Wirf dein Anliegen auf den Herrn. Der hat einen breiten Hals und kanns wohl tragen.
Throw your concern to the Lord. He has a wide neck and can wear it.
7/ Geld kann den Hunger nicht stillen, sondern ist im Gegenteil der Grund für Hunger. Denn wo reiche Leute sind, da ist alles teuer.
Money cannot satisfy hunger, but on the contrary it is the reason for hunger. Where there are rich people, everything is expensive.
8/ Traurige Leute soll man mit Essen und Trinken erquicken.
Sad people should be refreshed with food and drink.
9/ Aus einem verzagten Arsch kommt kein fröhlicher Furz.
A happy fart never comes from a miserable ass.
10/ Selbst wenn ich wüsste, dass die Welt morgen in Stücke zerfällt, würde ich immer noch meinen Apfelbaum einpflanzen. (This one may or may not be from him, but I like it anyway)
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
Which one do you like best?
Have you come across any other ones that you’d like to see added?
EDIT October 2018: I’ve made a video of those 10 sayings, which I hope you like:
I’m not too sure of this theology, but I thought it was funny anyway…
Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!
Martin Luther
Yes, I saw that,too, and liked it. For some reason I couldn’t find the original it in German. That’s why I didn’t use it. But a great reason to drink beer 🙂
Do you have a source for this quote?
“Wenn Du die Welt verändern willst, nimm einen Stift und schreib.”
Vielen Dank!
I’m afraid I don’t. I found those quotes on other sites and did quite a bit of research to make sure that they were quotes from him, but I cannot remember what sites they were, nor can I find any now. Sorry!
I would love to know the source and the original Lutheran German for his explanation that ‘faith’ is like trusting a ship by getting on it. Could you help me, please.
Also was Luther’s own German closer to Dutch?
Bob
Hi Bob, I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I found Luther’s sermon about Matthew 8, verses 23-27 on another website https://jochenteuffel.com/2020/03/21/luthers-predigt-ueber-matthaeus-823-27-von-1531-fasse-einen-mut-obschon-die-wellen-ueber-das-schiff-schlagen-und-das-meer-toll-und-toericht-wird-und-braust-dennoch-fuerchte-dich-nicht/
I’m looking for the German text to the quote: Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
Soon retiring, I’ve lived in Germany (an orchestral musician) for 44 years. I came upon this quote from the movie – Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993) with one of my favorite actors, Brian Dennehy.
That’s difficult. I managed to find out that in German the film is called ‘Jack Reed: Unter Mordverdacht’, but i couldn’t find any quotes. A translation of the sentence would be ‘Die Gerechtigkeit ist etwas Vorübergehendes, das schließlich zu Ende gehen muss; das Gewissen aber ist ewig und wird niemals sterben.’ but as the films get dubbed it is always possible that the German sentence is something different.