Luther

Martin Luther:
That day when you sent me out so boldly to change the world, did you really think there wouldn't be a cost?

Georg Spalatin:
Do not bite the hand that feeds you, Martin. Our prince pays for your chair in this university. His relics pay for your chair.

Martin Luther:
And he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Frederick the Wise:
It's so irritating. Who are they to deprive my university of such a fine mind?

Martin Luther:
To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot, and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

Martin Luther:
Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

Johann Tetzel:
Good people of Jutebog, have you ever burned your hand in the fire? Even one finger made raw by the flame will torment you throughout the night. Is it not so?

Johann Tetzel:
Imagine then, your entire body burning. Not for one sleepless night, not for a week, but for all eternity! Are we to be spared the fires of damnation on the Judgment Day?

Johann Tetzel:
Tonight, your Pope, the vicar of Christ, sends you a gift, a gift to save you from such fires, a special indulgence, granted for the building of Saint Peter's Church in Rome, where the bones of the apostles lie moldering, exposed to wind and rain, desecrated by wild animals. Take heed the words of your Holy Father who says, "Lay a stone for Saint Peters and you lay the foundation for your own salvation and happiness in heaven." How? With this indulgence. When? Tonight, and only tonight. Seek the Lord while he is near. Here is your raft! Take hold!

Martin Luther:
I cannot renounce all of my works because they are not all the same.First are those books in which if I have described Christian faith and life so simply that even my opponents have admitted that these books are useful. To renounce these writings would be unthinkable for that would be to renounce accepted Christian truths... The second group of my work is directed aginst the foul doctrine and evil living of the Popes, past and present... Through the laws of the Pope and the doctrines of men, the consciences of the faithful have been miserably vexed and flayed. If I recant these books, I will do nothing but add strength to tyranny and open not just the windows but also the doors to this great ungodliness... In the third group I have written against private persons and individuals who uphold Roman tyranny and have attacked my own efforts to encourage piety to Christ. I confess that I have written too harshly. I am but a man and I can err. Only let my errors be proven by Scripture and I will revoke my work and throw my books into the fire.