J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes

Biography

Type: Author, Academic, Philologist, Poet

Born: 3 January 1892, Bloemfontein, Orange Free Stat

Died: 2 September 1973 (aged 81), Bournemouth, D

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously "The Hobbit" (1937) and "The Lord of the Rings" (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of our world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide.

J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.

Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether
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 this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?

The treacherous are ever distrustful.. J.R.R. Tolkien
The treacherous are ever distrustful.

I wisely started with a map.. J.R.R. Tolkien
I wisely started with a map.

grows like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mould of the mind: out of
grows like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mould of the mind: out of all that has been seen or thought or read, that has long ago been forgotten, descending into the deeps.

The world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth,
The world is changing: I feel it in the water, I feel it in the earth, and I smell it in the air.

Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things..
Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.

I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person
I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to

Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in
Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.

End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all
End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path. One that we all must take.

For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the
For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

Ónen i-estel edain, ú-chebin estel anim. (I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept none
Ónen i-estel edain, ú-chebin estel anim.
(I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept none for myself.)
(Gilraen's linnod)

Criticism - however valid or intellectually engaging - tends to get in the way of a
Criticism - however valid or intellectually engaging - tends to get in the way of a writer who has anything personal to say. A tightrope walker may require practice, but if he starts a theory of equilibrium he will lose grace (and probably fall off).

I will take the Ring, he said, though I do not know the way.. J.R.R. Tolkien
I will take the Ring", he said, "though I do not know the way.

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

There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the
There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.

To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face. J.R.R. Tolkien
To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face

After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of 'truth', and indeed present
After all, I believe that legends and myths are largely made of 'truth', and indeed present aspects of it that can only be received in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes of this kind were discovered and must always reappear.

Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy,
Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?. . .If we value the freedom of mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can!

Fair speech may hide a foul heart.. J.R.R. Tolkien
Fair speech may hide a foul heart.

Never laugh at live dragons.

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

Wise men speak only of what they know

There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one.

Indeed if fish had fish-lore and Wise-fish, it is probable that the business of anglers would be very little hindered.

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

And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honour, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves upon earth.

I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

Then hope unlooked-for came so suddenly to Eomer's heart, and with it the bite of care and fear renewed, that he said no more, but turned and went swiftly from the hall.

To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising very slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking to the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.

On their deathbed men will speak true, they say.

There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.

It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.

Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising
I came singing into the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!

Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand- - that and such hope as I bring.

Above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the Stars farewell.

Being a cheerful hobbit, he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.

The day will bring hope for me," said Aragorn. "Is it not said that no foe has ever taken the Hornburg, if men defended it?"
"So the minstrels say," said Éomer.
"Then let us defend it, and hope!

I do not know what is happening. The reason of my waking mind tells me that great evil has befallen and we stand at the end of days. But my heart says nay; and all my limbs are light, and a hope and joy are come to me that no reason can deny. [...] I do not believe that darkness will endure!

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have passed them by
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall, and wind may blow
And many miles be still to go
But under a tall tree will I lie
And let the clouds go sailing by

The world was fair, the mountains tall
In Elder Days before the fall...

Far over misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To find our long-forgotten gold.

I can manage," said Frodo. "I must.

So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.

Books ought to have good endings.

We set out to save the Shire, Sam and it has been saved - but not for me.

Short cuts make long delays.

Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here too after all the absurd things you've done since you left home.

They made for his noise far quicker than he had expected. They were frightfully angry. Quite apart from the stones no spider has ever like being called Attercop, and Tomnoddy of course, is insulting to anybody.

He was fingering his great horn.

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

But perhaps you could call her perilous because she's so strong in herself. You , you could dash yourself to pieces on her, like a ship on a rock, or drown yourself, like a Hobbit in a river, but neither rock nor river would be to blame.

What do you fear, lady?" [Aragorn] asked.
"A cage," [Éowyn] said. "To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.

A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it.

This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away.

Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.

Lilly-flowers nodded their half-opened heads in the grass.

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 honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Erol and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.

I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.

His rage passes description - the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but have never before used or wanted.

Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.

Struck by lightning! Struck by lightning!

I stand in Minas Anor, the Tower of the Sun; and behold! the Shadow has departed! I will be a Shieldmaiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.

In this Music [the singing of the angels in harmony] the World was begun; for Iluvatar made visible the song of the Ainur,and they beheld it as a light in the darkness.

But of bliss and glad life there is little to be said, before it ends; as works fair and wonderful, while they still endure for eyes to see, are ever their own record, and only when they are in peril or broken for ever do they pass into song.

For nothing is evil in the beginning.

In te c’è più di quanto tu non sappia, figlio dell’Occidente cortese. Coraggio e saggezza, in giusta misura mischiati. Se un maggior numero di noi stimasse cibo, allegria e canzoni al di sopra dei tesori d’oro, questo sarebbe un mondo più lieto.

Not all those who wander are lost...

«Pensandoci bene, apparteniamo anche noi alla medesima storia, che continua attraverso i secoli! Non hanno dunque una fine i grandi racconti?».
«No, non terminano mai i racconti», disse Frodo. «Sono i personaggi che vengono e se ne vanno, quando è terminata la loro parte. La nostra finirà più tardi… o fra breve».

Non tocca a noi dominare tutte le maree del mondo; il nostro compito è di fare il possibile per la salvezza degli anni nei quali viviamo, sradicando il male dai campi che conosciamo, al fine di lasciare a coloro che verranno dopo terra sana e pulita da coltivare.

Il mondo è davvero pieno di pericoli, e vi sono molti posti oscuri; ma si trovano ancora delle cose belle, e nonostante che l’amore sia ovunque mescolato al dolore, esso cresce forse più forte.

Molti tra i vivi meritano la morte. E parecchi che sono morti avrebbero meritato la vita. Sei forse tu in grado di dargliela? E allora non essere troppo generoso nel distribuire la morte nei tuoi giudizi: sappi che nemmeno i più saggi possono vedere tutte le conseguenze.

How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand... there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep.

I propose to speak about fairy-stories, though I am aware that this is a rash adventure. Faërie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold.

Man, Sub-creator, the refracted Light
through whom is splintered from a single White
to many hues, and endlessly combined
in living shapes that move from mind to mind.

The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and be able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into a swift water.

We are plain quiet folk and I have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!

We are plain qiuet folk and I have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!
(Bilbo Beutlin in: The Hobbit)

My mind does not change with the rising and setting of a few suns

Elves are wondrous fair to look upon.

Muchos de los que viven merecen morir y algunos de los que mueren merecen la vida. ¿Puedes devolver la vida? Entonces no te apresures a dispensar la muerte, pues ni el más sabio conoce el fin de todos los caminos.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor, and a great wind rose and blew, and their hair, raven and golden, streamed out mingling in the air.

Ask not the elves for advice, because they will tell you both 'yes' and 'no'.

Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!

On ne peut la voir, on ne peut la sentir,
On ne peut l'entendre, on ne peut la respirer.
Elle s'étend derrière les étoiles et sous les collines.
Elle remplit les trous vides.
Elle vient d'abord et suit après.
Elle termine la vie, tue le rire.

(L'obscurité)

Vivant sans souffle,
Froid comme la mort,
Jamais assoiffé, toujours buvant,
En cotte de mailles, jamais cliquetant.

(Le poisson)

Trente chevaux sur une colline rouge;
D'abord ils mâchonnent,
Puis ils frappent leur marque,
Ensuite ils restent immobiles.

(Les dents)

Ce n'était pas un trou déplaisant, sale et humide, rempli de bouts de vers et d'une atmosphère suintante, non plus qu'un trou sec, nu, sablonneux, sans rien pour s'asseoir ni sur quoi manger : c'était un trou de hobbit, ce qui implique le confort".

For you do not yet know the strengths of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet on the road.

He was kindhearted, in a way. You know the sort of kind heart: it made him uncomfortable more often than it made him do anything; and even when he did anything, it did not prevent him from grumbling, losing his temper and swearing (mostly to himself).

War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.

The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.

It needs but one foe to breed a war, and those who have not swords can still die upon them.

Dead men are not friends to living men, and give them no gifts.

Victory after all, I suppose!.....Well, it seems a very gloomy business.

Then holding the star aloft and the bright sword advanced, Frodo, hobbit of the Shire, walked steadily down to meet the eyes.

I am a Christian…so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’ - though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.

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.

The grey-rain curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!

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 is in this Earth; and many of the Children of Ilúvatar hearken still unsated to the voices of the Sea, and yet know not for what they listen.

I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.

A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship.

Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo

You renounce your friendship even in the hour of our need ' he said. 'Yet you were glad indeed to receive our aid when you came at last to these shores fainthearted loiterers and well-nigh emptyhanded. In huts on the beaches would you be dwelling still had not the Noldor carved out your haven and toiled upon your walls.

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and Sam came in. He ran to Frodo and took his left hand, awkwardly and shyly. He stroked it gently and then he blushed and turned hastily away.

But I don't think I ought to leave my friends like this, after all we have gone through together.

Far more often [than asking the question 'Is it true?'] they [children] have asked me: 'Was he good? Was he wicked?' That is, they were far more concerned to get the Right side and the Wrong side clear. For that is a question equally important in History and in Faerie.

Children are meant to grow up, and not to become Peter Pans. Not to lose innocence and wonder, but to proceed on the appointed journey: that journey upon which it is certainly not better to travel hopefully than to arrive, though we must travel hopefully if we are to arrive.

But the only measure that he knows is desire desire for power and so he judges all hearts. Into his heart the thought will not enter that any will refuse it that having the Ring we may seek to destroy it. If we seek this we shall put him out of reckoning.

Grief is a hone to a hard mind.

Then sudden Felagund there swaying
Sang in answer a song of staying,
Resisting, battling against power,
Of secrets kept, strength like a tower,
And trust unbroken, freedom, escape;
Of changing and of shifting shape,
Of snares eluded, broken traps,
The prison opening, the chain that snaps.

Courage is found in unlikely places.

It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.

Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath.

I will take the ring," he said," though I do not know the way." -Frodo Baggins

Not all that have fallen are vanquished.

I'll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind," said Sam. "And I'll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart.

In the deep places he gives thought to music great and terrible; and the echo of that music runs through all the veins of the world in sorrow and in joy; for if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathomed at the foundations of the Earth.

I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!

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 amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. And of these histories most fair still in the ears of the Elves is the tale of Beren and Lúthien

For the rest, they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men, Legolas shall be for the Elves; and Gimli son of Gloin for the Dwarves. They are willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond. For Men you shall have Aragorn son of Arathorn, for the Ring of Isildur concerns him closely

Against delay. Against the way that seems easier. Against refusal of the burden that is laid on me. Against - well, if it must be said, against trust in the strength and truth of Men.

He knew that all the hazards and perils were now drawing together to a point: the next day would be a day of doom, the day of final effort or disaster, the last gasp.

Wizards are always troubled about the future.

Have you thought of an ending?"
"Yes, several, and all are dark and unpleasant."
"Oh, that won't do! Books ought to have good endings. How would this do: and they all settled down and lived together happily ever after?"
"It will do well, if it ever came to that."
"Ah! And where will they live? That's what I often wonder.

Si diéramos a la comida, la alegría y las canciones más valor que al oro, este sería sin duda un mundo más feliz

Share Page

J.R.R. Tolkien Wiki

J.R.R. Tolkien At Amazon