J.R.R. Tolkien

Quotes

• “I will not debate with you Dark Elf. By the swords of the Noldor alone are your sunless woods defended. Your freedom to ...”
• “The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril a...”
• “Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tre...”
• “In describing a fairy story which they think adults might possibly read for their own entertainment, reviewers frequentl...”
• “My friend, you had horses, and deed of arms, and the free fields; but she, being born in the body of a maid, had a spiri...”
• “My name is growing all the time, and I’ve lived a very long, long time; so my name is like a story. Real names tell you ...”
• “Though mortal Men have little life beside the span of the Elves, they would rather spend it in battle than fly or submit...”
• “I wish Merry was here," he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the enemy...”
• “Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. 'Strider' I am to one fat man who lives within a day's ma...”
• “Each day before the end of eveshe sought her lover, nor would him leave,until the stars were dimmed, and daycame glimmer...”
• “Mercy!" cried Gandalf. "If the giving of knowledge is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest...”
• “I must indeed abide the Doom of Men whether I will or nill: the loss and the silence. But I say to you, King of the Nume...”
• “Last of all Hurin stood alone. Then he cast aside his shield, and wielded an axe two-handed; and it is sung that the axe...”
• “To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising very slowly to a great ...”
• “For the rest, they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men, Legolas shall be for th...”
• “Now when Túrin learnt from Finduilas of what had passed, he was wrathful, and he said to Gwindor: 'In love I hold you fo...”
• “Our language now has become quick-moving (in syllables), and may be very supple and nimble, but is rather thin in sound ...”
• “What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!'Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pi...”
• “Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves ...”
• “All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and ...”
• “Goodbye, master, my dear! Forgive your Sam. He'll come back to this spot when the job's done - if he manages it. And the...”
• “You renounce your friendship even in the hour of our need ' he said. 'Yet you were glad indeed to receive our aid when y...”
• “Supernatural is a dangerous and difficult word in any of its senses, looser or stricter. But to fairies it can hardly be...”
• “the association of children and fairy-stories is an accident of our domestic history. Fairy-stories have in the modern l...”
• “He did not go much further, but sat down on the cold floor and gave himself up to complete miserableness, for a long whi...”
• “Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that came down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which a...”
• “At length the Lady Galadriel released them from her eyes, and she smiled. ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled,’ she said...”
• “In the deep places he gives thought to music great and terrible; and the echo of that music runs through all the veins o...”
• “It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein ...”
• “Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. It is the small ever...”
• “A ruler who discerning justice refuseth to it the sanction of law, demanding abnegation of rights and self-sacrifice, wi...”
• “Then sudden Felagund there swayingSang in answer a song of staying,Resisting, battling against power,Of secrets kept, st...”
• “Hobbits!’ he thought. ‘Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit...”
• “There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought onl...”
• “Children are meant to grow up, and not to become Peter Pans. Not to lose innocence and wonder, but to proceed on the app...”
• “The sons of Dior and Nimloth were Elured and Elurin; and a daughter also was born to them, and she was named Elwing, whi...”
• “After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for his pouch, and there w...”
• “Far more often [than asking the question 'Is it true?'] they [children] have asked me: 'Was he good? Was he wicked?' Tha...”
• “I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.' I should...”
• “I hope I never smell the smell of apples again!" said Fili. "My tub was full of ut. To smell apples everlastingly when y...”
• “Yes" Said Gandalf; "for it will be better to ride back three together than one alone. Well, here at last, dear friends, ...”
• “But Ilúvatar knew that Men, being set amid the turmoils of the powers of the world, would stray often, and would not use...”
• “It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance that...”
• “I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun; and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a Shieldmaiden no longer, no...”
• “And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utte...”
• “The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found...”
• “Well here we are, just the four of us that started out together,' said Merry. 'We have left all the rest behind, one aft...”
• “He willed that the hearts of Men should seek beyond the world and should find no rest therein; but they should have a vi...”
• “But the only measure that he knows is desire desire for power and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought wi...”
• “Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, a...”