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Who really said it

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope

Not Martin Luther King Jr. — actually Martin Luther, the reformer Martin Luther 1483–1546 · German theologian & leader of the Protestant Reformation
Disputed Free to reuse

The line is genuine, but it is not Dr. King’s — it belongs to Martin Luther, the 16th-century reformer, and comes from his Table Talk (Tischreden), section CCXCVIII. It continues: “No husbandman would sow one grain of corn, if he hoped not it would grow up and become seed… no merchant or tradesman would set himself to work, if he did not hope to reap benefit thereby.” The credit to Martin Luther King Jr. is a name-confusion mix-up.

Last verified 8 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Everything that is done in the world is done by hope” Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. —Martin Luther, Table Talk (no. CCXCVIII)

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Martin Luther King Jr.. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Free to use, including in commercial and paid presentations — no permission or licence needed.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Martin Luther — German theologian & leader of the Protestant Reformation. Theme: "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where it really comes from

Work
Table Talk (Tischreden), no. CCXCVIII
Author
Martin Luther (1483–1546)
First published
1566, compiled by Johannes Aurifaber, in German
Translation
English by William Hazlitt, 1848 (reissued in Bohn’s Standard Library, 1857)

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope. No husbandman would sow one grain of corn, if he hoped not it would grow up and become seed; no bachelor would marry a wife, if he hope not to have children; no merchant or tradesman would set himself to work, if he did not hope to reap benefit thereby, etc. How much more, then, does hope urge us on to everlasting life and salvation?

Luther’s Table Talk, section CCXCVIII, in the William Hazlitt translation reproduced by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Luther’s Table Talk, no. CCXCVIII (CCEL, Hazlitt translation)

How we verified this

  • The full paragraph — “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope… no merchant or tradesman would set himself to work, if he did not hope to reap benefit thereby” — sits at section CCXCVIII of Luther’s Table Talk.
  • The line is a compilation from Luther’s dinner-table conversations, first gathered and published in German as Tischreden in 1566, then Englished by William Hazlitt the Younger in 1848.
  • Reference sites file the exact wording under Martin Luther, citing the 1857 Table Talk edition, not Martin Luther King Jr.
Public domain

The German Tischreden (1566) and William Hazlitt’s English translation (1848; Bohn’s Standard Library, 1857) are both long out of copyright, so this wording is public domain in the United States.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

How it got pinned on the wrong Luther

This is one of the internet’s most predictable mix-ups: two famous men named Luther, four centuries apart. The words are the reformer’s; the face on the graphic is often Dr. King’s.

Martin Luther King Jr. Name confusion

Quote graphics and listicles routinely append “Martin Luther King” to the line, as on this posted image, because “Martin Luther” and “Martin Luther King” are so easily conflated. There is no such line in King’s sermons, speeches, or books.

The sentence is Martin Luther’s, from Table Talk no. CCXCVIII — the 16th-century reformer, not the 20th-century civil-rights leader.

Context

Why it matters

In the Table Talk, Luther uses the line to make a theological point, not a motivational one: if ordinary human effort — sowing, marrying, trading — is powered by hope of a future reward, then how much more should hope drive the believer toward “everlasting life and salvation.” The quote-card version strips away the sermon and keeps only the aphorism, which is part of how the attribution drifts.

“How much more, then, does hope urge us on to everlasting life and salvation?”

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Hope Purpose

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Luther’s Table Talk, no. CCXCVIIIccel.org

Full text of the passage in the standard Hazlitt translation.
The Table Talk of Martin Luther (Hazlitt)archive.org

Scanned Hazlitt translation of the Table Talk.
Martin Luther — Table Talk quotelibquotes.com

Files the full quote under Martin Luther, citing the 1857 edition.
Martin Luther (Wikiquote)en.wikiquote.org

Sourced quotations of the reformer, including Table Talk.
Misattributed to ‘Martin Luther King’institutesuccess.com

Example of the line pinned on Martin Luther King.

The real author

About Martin Luther

Martin Luther

1483–1546 · German theologian & leader of the Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther was a German monk, theologian, and the pivotal figure of the Protestant Reformation, whose 1517 Ninety-five Theses challenged the sale of indulgences and split Western Christianity. His Table Talk (Tischreden) is not a book he wrote but a posthumous collection of his informal remarks, jotted down by students and dinner guests and first published in 1566. He is a wholly different person from the American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., born four centuries later.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Table Talk, no. CCXCVIII

Martin Luther, The Table Talk of Martin Luther, no. CCXCVIII, trans. William Hazlitt (London: H. G. Bohn, 1857; orig. Tischreden, 1566).

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Everything that is done in the world is done by hope’?” Last verified 8 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/everything-that-is-done-in-the-world-is-done-by-hope/

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