It is pleasing to God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart. --Martin Luther (1483-1546)
"It's true that a good diet is the best medicine when it suits the individual, but to live medically is to live wretchedly." Then he related some examples of deceased persons who starved themselves to death on the advice of their physicians. "I eat what I like and will die when God wills it."
Luther's Tabletalk from No.3801
He had a rose in his hand and marveled at it. "A glorious work of art by God," he said. "If a man had the capacity to make just one rose he would be given an empire! But the countless gifts of God are esteemed as nothing because they're always present. We see that God gives children to all men, the fruit of their bodies resembling the parents. A peasant is said to have three and four sons who look so much like him that they're easily mistaken for one another. All of these gifts are despised because they're always present. Luther's Tabletalk from No.4593
'When Luther's puppy [n. 116, Luther's dog Tölpel is mentioned again and again in the Table Talk.] happened to be at the table, looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes, he [Martin Luther] said, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope.
Luther's Works, Volume 54, Table Talk (Philadelphia: 1967), pp. 37, 38. May 18, 1532
For some years now I have read through the Bible twice every year. If you picture the Bible to be a mighty tree and every word a little branch, I have shaken every one of these branches because I wanted to know what it was and what it meant. --Luther's Tabletalk No.1877
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