Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness.
Martin LutherRead
Justice is a temporary thing that must at last come to an end; but the conscience is eternal and will never die.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Justice is fleeting, while one's conscience lasts forever.
In this quote, Martin Luther emphasizes the transient nature of justice compared to the enduring aspect of conscience. He suggests that while the pursuit or manifestation of justice may be temporary and subject to change, the moral compass or inner sense of right and wrong—conscience—remains a constant and eternal guide that influences our actions throughout our lives.
Themes
JusticeConscienceEternalMoralityPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about ethical leadership, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of inner values.
More from Martin Luther
All quotes →Now if I believe in God's Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. ...God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.
Martin LutherRead
It is the part of a Christian to take care of his own body for the very purpose that, by its soundness and wellbeing, he may be enabled to labour, and to acquire and preserve property, for the aid of those who are in want, that thus the stronger member may serve the weaker member, and we may be children of God, and busy for one another, bearing one another's burdens, and so fulfiling the law of Christ.
Martin LutherRead
Reason is the greatest enemy that faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but more frequently than not struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God.
Martin LutherRead
We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Martin LutherRead
In a mouse we admire God's creation and craft work. The same may be said about flies.
Martin LutherRead
Similar quotes
We live always under the weight of the old and odious customs... of our barbarous ancestors.
Guy De MaupassantRead
For a man of my generation, our century has been a long intellectual and political struggle in favor of freedom.
Octavio PazRead
I came with the notion of perhaps saying something for monks and to monks of all religions because I am supposed to be a monk. ... My dear brothers, WE ARE ALREADY ONE. BUT WE IMAGINE THAT WE ARE NOT. And what we have to recover is our original unity. What we have to be is what we are
Thomas MertonRead
The centuries are sprinkled with rare magic with divine creatures who help us get past the common and extraordinary ills that beset us
Charles BukowskiRead
The religions that fascinate me and, you know, could possibly tempt me are not the ones that involve faith or belief. They're the ones that offer you the opportunity to know the spirit or deity.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
A kernel of truth lurks at the heart of religion, because spiritual experience, ethical behavior, and strong communities are essential for human happiness. And yet our religious traditions are intellectually defunct and politically ruinous. While spiritual experience is clearly a natural propensity of the human mind, we need not believe anything on insufficient evidence to actualize it.
Sam HarrisRead