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J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

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Famous J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

“One tiny Hobbit against all the evil the world could muster. A sane being would have given up, but Samwise burned with a magnificent madness, a glowing obsession to surmount every obstacle, to find Frodo, destroy the Ring, and cleanse Middle Earth of its festering malignancy. He knew he would try again. Fail, perhaps. And try once more. A thousand, thousand times if need be, but he would not give up the quest.”

IfsWorldNeedsGivingTryingEarthEvilGivenFailingMiddleThousandGiving UpMadnessObstaclesTinyRingsObsessionQuestsSaneBurnedMagnificentNot Giving UpGiven UpTry AgainGlowingMusterFrodoMiddle EarthSamwiseFesteringSamwise GamgeeMalignancy
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Gandalf: Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee. Have you been eavesdropping? Sam: I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you'll follow me. Gandalf: A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think? Sam: I heard raised voices. Gandalf: What did you hear? Speak. Sam: N-nothing important. That is, I heard a good deal about a ring, and a Dark Lord, and something about the end of the world, but... Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural.”

IfsThinkingWorldLittlesImportantEndsTurnsSpeakVoiceHurtDarkDealsLordCuttingHeardHonestPleaseLateWindowRaisedRingsGrassEnd Of The WorldFellowshipUnnaturalHurt MeFollow MeVergeTurn MeFellowship Of The RingLord Of The RingEavesdroppingTrimmingSamwiseSamwise GamgeeDon't Hurt Me
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“When Summer lies upon the world, and in a noon of gold, Beneath the roof of sleeping leaves the dreams of trees unfold; When woodland halls are green and cool, and wind is in the West, Come back to me! Come back to me, and say my land is best!”

WorldDreamLyingSleepTreeLandWindSummerGoldGreenWestHallsRoofNoonWoodlandCome Back To MeEnt
Book:The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings
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“Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death. . . . . . (quoting an obituary) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings”

IfsKnowsMenWorldHumansWellsMayWholeStoriesHappensDiesNaturalLordOne ThingKeysSpringAgreeAccidentsEvery ManRingsWhole WorldViolationInevitabilityQuotingObituaryNatural DeathInevitability Of Death
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Farewell sweet earth and northern sky, for ever blest, since here did lie and here with lissom limbs did run beneath the Moon, beneath the Sun, Lúthien Tinúviel more fair than Mortal tongue can tell. Though all to ruin fell the world and were dissolved and backward hurled; unmade into the old abyss, yet were its making good, for this - the dusk, the dawn, the earth, the sea - that Lúthien for a time should be.”

WorldShouldRunningEarthLyingSunSeaSkySweetMoonFairsTongueRuinsMortalsDawnFarewellAbyssLimbsDuskTinSilmarillion
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“the association of children and fairy-stories is an accident of our domestic history. Fairy-stories have in the modern lettered world been relegated to the “nursery,” as shabby or old-fashioned furniture is relegated to the play-room, primarily because the adults do not want it, and do not mind if it is misused.”

IfsWorldWantMindChildrenPlayStoriesRoomsModernAdultsAccidentsFairyAssociationOld FashionedFurnitureNurseryShabbyMisusedFairy Stories
Book:Tales from the Perilous Realm
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“At last, Lady Evenstar, fairest in this world, and most beloved, my world is fading. Lo! we have gathered, and we have spent, and now the time of payment draws near." 'Arwen knew well what he intended, and long had foreseen it; nonetheless she was overborne by her grief. "Would you then, lord, before your time leave your people that live by your word?" she said.”

PeopleWorldWellsLongSaidLastsGriefLordThis WorldDrawsBelovedLive ByPaymentFadingForeseen
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Pippin: I didn't think it would end this way. Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... And then you see it. Pippin: What? Gandalf?... See what? Gandalf: White shores... and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. Pippin: Well, that isn't so bad. Gandalf: No... No it isn't.”

ThinkingWorldWayWellsEndsCountryTurnsWhitePathJourneyThis WorldRainGreenGlassesRingsSilverShoreSunriseGreyCurtainsReturn Of The KingPippin
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“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.”

WorldLittlesRealSoulMightCareFoundMemoriesPerfectMistakeMarriageMarriedPartnersMatesImperfectSuitableSoul MateA Perfect WorldPerfect Marriage
Book:The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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“The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.”

WorldFirstsStoriesCoursesReligiousLordPracticeCuttingElementsCatholicRingsImaginaryCultSymbolismRevisionImaginary World
Book:The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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“What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside.”

WorldMindBelieveLittlesArtMomentsStoriesHappensLawSuccessfulMagicBrokenProveCreatorArisePrimariesRelateMakersSpellsAccordDisbelief
Book:Tales from the Perilous Realm
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“The rule of no realm is mine. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. And for my part, I shall not wholly fail in my task if anything that passes through this night can still grow fairer or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. For I too am a steward. Did you not know?”

IfsKnowsWorldStillsInspirationCareNightGrowsCourageFailingMinesFlowerBearsTasksFruitWorthyRealmsPerilStewardsDays To ComeWorthy Things
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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