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Quotes by J. R. R. Tolkien

British scholar & fantasy novelist (1892 - 1973)

CP 'I wish life was not so short,' he thought. 'Languages take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about.'

CP I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

It's a dangerous business going out your front door.

CP Courage is found in unlikely places.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

CP All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.

If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

The Hobbits are just rustic English people, made small in size because it reflects the generally small reach of their imagination.

I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence.

It's a job that's never started that takes the longest to finish.

CP Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.

CP His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.

...for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.

Little by little, one travels far.

The world changes, and all that once was strong now proves unsure.

CP All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on -- and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end.

The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last... The great battle of our time.

The world has changed. I see it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, For none now live who remember it.

CP Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise.

There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over... Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone.

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works...

With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter!

Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue.

The treacherous are ever distrustful.

CP He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.

CP Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end.

It's wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope.

CP For though I do not ask for aid, we need it.

CP I have no help to send, therefore I must go myself.

What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?

The deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.

I love you. I used to pity your sorrow. But now, were you sorrowless, without fear or any lack, still i would love you.

CP All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

Valour needs first strength, then a weapon.

Still round the corner there may wait, A new road or a secret gate.