Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Speech ·116 of 348
"Here I stand; I can do no other."
They never said that.
What people say
"Here I stand; I can do no other."
What was actually said
"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason … I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand; I can do no other." Martin Luther — Diet of Worms, 18 April 1521
Why it stuck
Luther's "here I stand" is the conclusion of a longer declaration about conscience. The line is a period, not the whole sentence.
Recent scholarship suggests the "here I stand" sentence may itself have been added by Luther's publisher to the printed version. The conscience passage is firmly in the record.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.