I am a Christianโฆso that I do not expect โhistoryโ to be anything but a โlong defeatโ โ though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.
J. R. R. TolkienAnd when [Bรซor] lay dead, of no wound or grief, but stricken by age, the Eldar saw for the first time the swift waning of the life of Men, and the death of weariness which they knew not in themselves; and they grieved greatly for the loss of their friends. But Bรซor at the last had relinquished his life willingly and passed in peace; and the Eldar wondered much at the strange fate of Men, for in all their lore there was no account of it, and its end was hidden from them.
J. R. R. TolkienWe are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!
J. R. R. TolkienOver the field rang his clear voice calling: โDeath! Ride, ride to ruin and the worldโs ending!
J. R. R. TolkienIt's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass.
J. R. R. Tolkien