His face was sad and stern because of the doom that was laid on him, and yet hope dwelt ever in the depths of his heart, from which mirth would arise at times like a spring from a rock.
J. R. R. TolkienAdvice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.
J. R. R. TolkienThere is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.
J. R. R. TolkienStand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole.
J. R. R. TolkienSaruman," I said, standing away from him, "only one hand at a time can weild the One, and you know that well, so do not trouble to say we!
J. R. R. TolkienWhat 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.
J. R. R. Tolkien