J.R.R. Tolkien quote: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence. I much prefer history, true or feigned, with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse ‘applicability’ with ‘allegory’; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author."

If most of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

And in that very moment, away behind in some far corner of the city, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Never laugh at live dragons.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Roads Go Ever On

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves wher...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do a...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Not all those who wander are lost.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the enemy, don't we consi...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Ho! Ho! Ho! To the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe
Rain may fall, and wind m...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

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

Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,
It lies behind stars ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate
And though I oft have p...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much tha...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can yo...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as wel...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far u...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

My dear Frodo!’ exclaimed Gandalf. ‘Hobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before....
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is w...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Fly you fools
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here too after all the absurd things you've done since you l...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,' said Frodo.
Sam looked at him unhappily. 'It all...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Sec...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

If by my life or death I can protect you, I will.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Short cuts make long delays.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not b...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

Courage is found in unlikely places.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I desired dragons with a profound desire. Of course, I in my timid body did not wish to have them in...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than i...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Handsome is as handsome does
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

After some time he felt for his pipe. It was not broken, and that was something. Then he felt for hi...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It's the deep breath before the plunge.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to und...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Sma...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The only thing that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Beca...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All have their worth and each contributes to the worth of the others.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

He loved mountains, or he had loved the thought of them marching on the edge of stories brought from...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I perceived or thought of the Light of God and in it suspended one small mote (or millions of motes ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Have you thought of an ending?"
"Yes, several, and all are dark and unpleasant."
"Oh, that...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

For you little gardener and lover of trees, I have only a small gift. Here is set G for Galadriel, b...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love t...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is stro...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All that is gold does not glitter; not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does no...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that y...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone, J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The praise of the praiseworthy is above all rewards.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

What do you fear, lady?' he asked.

'A cage,' she said.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But G...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

And yet, Eomer, I say to you that she loves you more truly than me, for you she loves and knows; but...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Many are the strange chances of the world,' said Mithrandir, 'and help oft shall come from the hands...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

But you speak of Master Gandalf, as if he was in a story that had come to an end.'

'Yes...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It's a dangerous business, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Are we riding far tonight, Gandalf?” asked Merry after a while. “I don’t know how you feel wit...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Home is behind, the world ahead,
and there are many paths to tread
through shadows to ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or j...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it's no good worrying about tomorrow. It probably won't come.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I warn you, if you bore me, I shall take my revenge.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does no...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All that is gold does not glitter; not all those that wander are lost.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The burned hand teaches best.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

No diré no lloréis, pues no todas las lágrimas son amargas.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Tres Anillos para los Reyes Elfos bajo el cielo. Siete para los Señores Enanos en palacios de piedr...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

He thought much but said little.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altoget...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

That was the most awkward Wednesday he ever remembered.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

You may not like my burglar, but please don't damage him.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

A box without hinges, key, or lid,
Yet golden treasure inside is hid.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

A safe fairyland is untrue to all worlds.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail nev...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Farewell! O Gandalf! May you ever appear where you are most needed and least expected!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, a...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

May the hair on your toes never fall out!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

All's well that ends better.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Don't pray for lighter burdens, but for stronger backs.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

those who will defend authority against rebellion must not themselves rebel.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Death is their fate, the gift of Ilъvatar, which as Time wears even the Powers shall envy.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I would venture to say that approaching the Christian Story from this direction, it has long been my...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I am a Christian…so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a ‘long defeat’ — ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Faithfulness in Christian marriage entails that: great mortification. For a Christian man there is n...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Is there any pleasure on earth as great as the circle of Christian friends by a good fire?
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I am a Christian and of course what I write will be from that essential viewpoint.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are mad...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The Resurrection was the greatest ‘eucatastrophe’ possible in the greatest Fairy Story — and p...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange vis...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," said Aragorn: "you still speak in riddles."
"W...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I don’t like anything here at all.” said Frodo, “step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Where there's life there's hope.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Touching your cap to the squire may be damn bad for the squire, but it's damn good for you.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That i...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and dange...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm an...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

PIPPIN: I didn't think it would end this way.

GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn't end h...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Frodo gave a cry, and there was, fallen upon his knees at the chasm's edge. But Gollum, dancing like...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fires are before you, and your home...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

All my own perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded upon Our Lady.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

The way is shut.
Then they halted and looked at him and saw that he lived still; but he did not...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I don’t know,’ said Frodo. ‘It came to me then, as if I was making it up; but I may have heard...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Fear nothing! Have peace until the morning! Heed no nightly noises!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Over the field rang his clear voice calling: ‘Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world’s ending!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Why, Sam,” he said, “to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the
story was already writ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Cold be hand and heart and bone,
and cold be sleep under stone:
never more to wake on ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Yet at the last Beren was slain by the Wolf that came from the gates of Angband, and he died in the ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
Of wind I sang, a wind ther...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad tha...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or conte...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The consolation of fairy-stories, the joy of the happy ending: or more correctly of the good catastr...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

If I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a smal...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

And Iluvatar spoke to Ulmo, and said: 'Seest thou not how here in this little realm in the Deeps of ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

A divine 'punishment’ is also a divine 'gift’, if accepted, since its object is ultimate blessin...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wi...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief f...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Truly songs and tales fall utterly short of the reality, O Smaug the Chiefest and greatest of Calami...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Why O why did I ever leave my hobbit-hole?" said poor Mr. Baggins, bumping up and down on Bombur's b...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

No dragon can resist the fascination of riddling talk and of wasting time trying to understand it.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

evil labours with vast power and perpetual success - in vain: preparing always only the soil for une...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I heard of that bloodthirsty old murderer Josef Stalin inviting all nations to join a happy family o...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The greater part of the truth is always hidden, in regions out of the reach of cynicism.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more--remembering my own sins and follies; and ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn’ Ambar-metta!
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I wish life was not so short,' he thought. 'Languages take such a time, and so do all the things one...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Fare well we call to hearth and hall
Though wind may blow and rain may fall
We must away e...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

You do not understand' said Pippin. 'You must go - and therefore we must too. Merry and I are coming...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!'
Pity? It was Pit...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

You renounce your friendship even in the hour of our need ' he said. 'Yet you were glad indeed to re...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

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

We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also re...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

The others cast themselves down upon the fragrant grass, but Frodo stood awhile still lost in wonder...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed ...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

How shall a man judge what to do in such times?'
'As he ever has judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good a...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

Do not go to the elves for council for they will say both yes and no.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

For if joyful is the fountain that rises in the sun, its springs are in the wells of sorrow unfathom...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least cor...
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

...in doubt a man of worth will trust to his own wisdom.
J.R.R. TOLKIEN

J.R.R. Tolkien

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