"My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary"
About this Quote
The line works because it collapses two worlds Luther is famous for holding in tension: rigorous doctrine and earthy human need. “Solaced and refreshed” sounds almost clinical, as if he’s reporting the effects of a treatment. Yet the source isn’t a physician or sacrament but music - an art form that slips past argument and hits the nervous system directly. Subtext: theology can explain salvation; it can’t always stabilize the self at 3 a.m. when the body is “sick and weary.”
Context matters: Luther championed congregational singing and vernacular hymns, pulling worship away from specialist performance and toward mass participation. So this isn’t merely autobiographical. It’s a defense of music’s legitimacy in a religious culture suspicious of pleasure. He frames music as consolation for the overburdened, a technology of endurance - and, quietly, a democratic tool. If music can refresh a professor under siege, it can fortify everyone else trying to survive the grind of history, too.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Later attribution: Facing the Music (Robert Dusek, 2008) modern compilationISBN: 9781606472699 · ID: aJ_bYD-ZrgEC
Evidence:
... Martin Luther wrote , " My heart , which is so full to overflowing , has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary , " and " Next to the Word of God , the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world ... |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Luther, Martin. (2026, February 8). My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-heart-which-is-so-full-to-overflowing-has-34272/
Chicago Style
Luther, Martin. "My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary." FixQuotes. February 8, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-heart-which-is-so-full-to-overflowing-has-34272/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary." FixQuotes, 8 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-heart-which-is-so-full-to-overflowing-has-34272/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.











