Quotable

Summoned to appear before the diet [legislature of the Holy Roman Empire at Worms] to be condemned to death, and called upon to recant, Martin Luther defiantly declared: "This shall be my recantation at Worms: Previously I said the Pope was the vicar of Christ. I recant. Now I say the Pope is the adversary of Christ and the apostle of the Devil."

Roland H. Bainton, Here I Stand: The Life of Martin Luther, p. 139

To the emperor he replied: "Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason--I do not accept the authority of popes and council, for they have contradicted each other--my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."

Bainton, p. 144