Sophie Scholl quotes

Sophie Scholl was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, most famous for her role in the White Rose resistance group. Alongside her brother and other members, she courageously distributed leaflets calling for opposition to the Nazi regime. She became a symbol of moral courage and resistance against tyranny. Here are 21 of her quotes:

Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did.

Sophie Scholl

I am, now as before, of the opinion that I did the best that I could do for my nation. I therefore do not regret my conduct and will bear the consequences that result from my conduct.

Sophie Scholl

The Sun still shines.

Sophie Scholl

I pity people who can't find laughter or at least some bit of amusement in the little doings of the day. I believe I could find something ridiculous even in the saddest moment, if necessary. It has nothing to do with being superficial. It's a matter of joy in life.

Sophie Scholl

I know that life is a doorway to eternity, and yet my heart so often gets lost in petty anxieties. It forgets the great way home that lies before it.

Sophie Scholl

How can we expect a righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone who will give himself up undividedly to a righteous cause?

Sophie Scholl

Such a splendid sunny day, and I have to go. But how many have to die on the battlefield in these days, how many young, promising lives... What does my death matter if by our acts thousands are warned and alerted. Among the student body there will certainly be a revolt.

Sophie Scholl

Isn't it bewildering ... that everything is so beautiful, despite all the horrors that exist?

Sophie Scholl

I'm still so remote from God that I don't even sense his presence when I pray.

Sophie Scholl

The only remedy for a barren heart is prayer, however poor and inadequate.

Sophie Scholl

Just because so many things are in conflict does not mean that we ourselves should be divided.

Sophie Scholl

Are there still people today who never weary of directing all their thinking and all their energy, single-heartedly, to one cause?

Sophie Scholl

Life is always on the edge of death; narrow streets lead to the same place as wide avenues, and a little candle burns itself out just like a flaming torch does. I choose my own way to burn.

Sophie Scholl

Only man can be hateful or ugly, because he possesses a free will to cut himself off from the chorus of praise. It often seems that he will succeed in drowning out this chorus with his cannon thunder, curses, and blasphemy. But it has become clear to me this spring that he cannot.

Sophie Scholl

It's the reductionist approach to life: if you keep it small, you'll keep it under control. If you don't make any noise, the bogeyman won't find you. But it's all an illusion, because they die too, those people who roll up their spirits into tiny little balls so as to be safe.

Sophie Scholl

I've been thinking of a story from the Old Testament: Moses stood all day and all night with outstretched arms, praying to God for victory. And whenever he let down his arms, the enemy prevailed over the children of Israel. Are there still people today who never weary of directing all their thinking and all their energy, single-heartedly, to one cause?

Sophie Scholl

Isn't it bewildering ... that everything is so beautiful, despite all the horrors that exist? Lately I've noticed something grand and mysterious peering into my sheer joy in all that is lovely - the sense of a Creator whom innocent creation worships with its beauty. Only man can be hateful or ugly, because he possesses a free will to cut himself off from the chorus of praise. It often seems that he will succeed in drowning out this chorus with his cannon thunder, curses, and blasphemy. But it has become clear to me this spring that he cannot. And so I must try to throw myself on the side of the victor.

Sophie Scholl

The only remedy for a barren heart is prayer, however poor and inadequate. As I did that night at Blumberg, I'll keep on repeating it for us both: We must pray, and pray for each other, and if you were here, I'd fold hands with you, because we're poor, weak, sinful children. Oh, Fritz, if I can't write anything else just now, it's only because there's a terrible absurdity about a drowning man who, instead of calling for help, launches into a scientific, philosophical, or theological dissertation while the sinister tentacles of the creatures on the seabed are encircling his arms and legs, and the waves are breaking over him. It's only because I'm filled with fear, that and nothing else, and feel an undivided yearning for him who can relieve me of it.

Sophie Scholl