In our last entry in this category — “The Story” — we looked at some of Martin Luther’s colorful sayings.  That was June 3, if you wanted to revisit that post.  Today we’ll enjoy some more Luther…

On Human Nature
“Nothing is easier than sinning.”

“Human nature is like a drunk peasant.  LIft him into the saddle on one side, over he topples on the other side.”

“God uses lust to impel man to marriage, ambition to office, avarice to earning, and fear to faith.”

“Temptations, of course, cannot be avoided, but because we cannot prevent the birds from flying over our heads, there is no reason that we should let them nest in our hair.”

“A lie is like a snowball.  The longer it is rolled on the ground the larger it becomes.”

On Preaching
“When I preach I regard neither the doctors nor magistrates, of whom I have above forty in my congregation; I have all my eyes on the servant maids and on the children.  And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is open.”

“It is not necessary for a preacher to express all his thoughts in one sermon.  A preacher should have three principles:  first, to make a good beginning, and not spend time with many words before coming to the point; secondly, to say that which belongs to the subject in chief, and avoid strange and foreign thoughts; thirdly, to stop at the proper time.”

On Church Practices
“A simple layman armed with Scripture is to be believed above a pope or a cardinal without it.”

“What lies there are about relics!  One claims to have a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel, and the Bishop of Mainz has a flame from Moses’ burning bush.  And how does it happen that eighteen apostles are buried in Germany when Christ only had twelve?”

“Farewell to those who want an entirely pure and purified church.  This is plainly no church at all.”

On Music
“The devil should not be allowed to keep all the best tunes for himself.”

“I have no use for cranks who despise music, because it is a gift of God.  Next after theology, I give to music the highest place and the greatest honor.”