Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of scientific verity. On the contrary. The...

Seek for the Sword that was brokenIn Imladris it dwells;There shall be counsels takenStronger than Morgul-spells.There shall be shown a tokenThat Doom is near at hand,For Isuldur’s Bane shall waken,And the halfling forth shall stand.

Yes, I am white now,’ said Gandalf. ‘Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been.

I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.

It is a dangerous business going out your front door.

Then another clear voice, as young and as ancient as Spring, like the song of a glad water flowing down into the night from a bright morning in the hills, came falling like silver to...

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...

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

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

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

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...

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...

please don’t cook me, kind sirs! I am a good cook myself, and cook better than I cook, if you see what I mean.

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works,...

The more ‘life’ a story has the more readily will it be susceptible of allegorical interpretations: while the better a deliberate allegory is made the more nearly will it be acceptable just as a story.

All that is gold does not glitter…

Faithfulness in Christian marriage entails that: great mortification. For a Christian man there is no escape. Marriage may help to sanctify and direct to its proper object his sexual desires; its grace may help him...

Float beyond the world of trees. Out into the whispering breeze, past the rushes, past the weeds, past the marsh’s waving reeds.

Oft hope is born, when all is forlorn.

The wise speak only of what they know.

Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can. The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears.

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.

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...

I wish Merry was here,” he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind, even as he watched the enemy come charging to the assault. “Well, well, now at any rate I understand...

For my present purpose I require a word which shall embrace both the Sub-Creative Art in itself, and a quality of strangeness and wonder in the Expression, derived from the Image: a quality essential to...

It is usually assumed that children are the natural or the specially appropriate audience for fairy-stories. In describing a fairy-story which they think adults might possibly read for their own entertainment, reviewers frequently indulge in...

The Eleven king looked sternly upon Thorin, when he was brought before him, and asked him many questions. But Thorin would only say that he was starving. “Why did you and your folk three times...

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

But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some...

This was the first of the sorrows of Turin.

Perhaps it is better not to tell what you wish. if you cannot have it.

El camino sigue y siguedesde la puerta.El camino ha ido muy lejos,y que otros lo sigan si pueden.Que ellos emprendan un nuevo viaje,pero yo al fin con pies fatigadosme volveré a la taberna iluminada,al encuentro...

That is Shadowfax. He is cheif of the Maeras, lords of all horses, and not even Theoden, King of Rohan, has ever looked on a better. Does he not shine like silver, and run as...

I do not love the bright sword for it’s sharpness, nor the arrow for it’s swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend

There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power.

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

Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass growsThe West Wind goes walking, and about the walls it goes.What news from the West, oh wandering wind, do you bring to me tonight?Have you...

Mercy!” cried Gandalf. “If the giving of knowledge is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more should you like to know?””The...

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.” —...

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.

Courage is found in unlikely places.

Hobbits always so polite, yes! O nice hobbits! Smeagol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for...

Justice is not Healing. Healing cometh only by suffering and patience, and maketh no demand, not even for Justice. Justice worketh only within the bonds of things as they are… and therefore though Justice is...

I am at home among trees.

The realm of fairy-story is wide and deep and high and filled with many things: all manner of beasts and birds are found there; shoreless seas and stars uncounted; beauty that is an enchantment, and...

He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.

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

It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish.

And it is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain. Were I permitted, in this dark hour I would choose the...

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