J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

"Not all those who wander are lost."

"Courage is found in unlikely places."

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

"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."

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

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

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

"You have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have."

"A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen."

"Short cuts make long delays."

"A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid."

"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out."

"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending!"

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends."

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

"The proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity."

"I dislike Allegory - the conscious and intentional allegory - yet any attempt to explain the purport of myth or fairytale must use allegorical language."

"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 original 'Hobbit' was never intended to have a sequel - Bilbo 'remained very happy to the end of his days and those were extraordinarily long': a sentence I find an almost insuperable obstacle to a satisfactory link."

"Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger."

"Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes."

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

"Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write."

"It may be the part of a friend to rebuke a friend's folly."

"They say it is the first step that costs the effort. I do not find it so. I am sure I could write unlimited 'first chapters'. I have indeed written many."

"Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was their favourite haunt."

"Myth and fairy-story must, as all art, reflect and contain in solution elements of moral and religious truth (or error), but not explicit, not in the known form of the primary 'real' world."

"If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it's my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth."

"Don't go getting mixed up in the business of your betters, or you'll land in trouble too big for you."

"Middle English is an exciting field - almost uncharted, I begin to think, because as soon as one turns detailed personal attention on to any little corner of it, the received notions and ideas seem to crumple up and fall to pieces - as far as language goes, at any rate."