'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.'

Tolkien's grandson says 'Lord of the Rings' was influenced by WWI

JRR Tolkien fought in World War I, an experience his grandson, Simon Tolkien, says informed the fantasy legend’s famous trilogy. The companionship between Frodo and Sam and Sauron’s pervasive evil, according to the younger Tolkien, were directly influenced by time on the battlefield.

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

'We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.'

- Playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

JRR Tolkien believed fairy tales needed dramatic reversals of fortune

Tolkien coined the term "eucatastrophe" to define what he believed as an essential key to good storytelling: “The consolation of fairy-stories [is] the joy of the happy ending: or more correctly of the good catastrophe, the sudden joyous ‘turn.'"

JRR Tolkien, author of 'Lord of the Rings,' and CS Lewis, author of 'The Chronicles of Narnia,' became close friends after meeting at Oxford and bonding over Norse mythology.

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

JRR Tolkien redefined fantasy for a new generation

Tolkien's debut novel, 1937's "The Hobbit," was aimed at young adults, yet it felt far more serious than the whimsical tales of Lewis Carroll or L. Frank Baum. "What Tolkien does is take the 'otherworld' fantasy developed in the 19th century and makes it child-sized, melding it with folklore and Norse myth," notes Farah Mendlesohn, the author of "Rhetorics of Fantasy."

'I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.'

- Author Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

'Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch.'

- Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)

'Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.'

- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in "Elenora"

'When you're climbing Mount Everest, nothing is easy. You just take one step at a time, never look back and always keep your eyes glued to the top.'

- Author Jacqueline Susann (1918-1974)

'The true measure of all our actions is how long the good in them lasts.'

- Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)

The calendars of the 'Lord of the Rings'

JRR Tolkien's epic fantasy trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" is a seminal work in the history of literature partly due to its creator's obsessive focus on systematic detail—including the calendars used in the world. Take a fantastic dive into the minutiae of Tolkien's creation by learning the different approaches to time organization in the Shire or Rivendell with this dense, comprehensive resource based on Tolkien's appendices.

JRR Tolkien believed fantasy literature was an entirely different world

Tolkien effectively invented modern fantasy, which often relies on an intricate universe, complete with its own languages, cultures, lifeforms, physics, and systems. When an author did this effectively, he called it “Faërie”—a sort of enchantment that transports the reader into the fictional world.

'Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.'

- 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life"

'The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first, Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop'd.'

- Poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

'Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!'

- Actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982)

‘Beowulf’ is a foundational text for modern fantasy

The story is the earliest surviving poem in the English language and enshrined many Anglo-Saxon ideals about heroism, loyalty, and adventure. JRR Tolkein was an enthusiastic fan of the poem, even lecturing about it in 1936, and mirrored many of its themes in “Lord of the Rings.” Critics have also highlighted the influence on later fantasy stories, including “Harry Potter.”

'I can’t go back to yesterday–because I was a different person then.'

- "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" author Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898)

'It's those who lie outside ordinary experience who have the most to teach us.'

- Author Malcolm Gladwell (1963 - present)

'No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.'

-Charles Dickens (1812-1870), in "Our Mutual Friend"

'If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.'

- Billionaire John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

'Her own thoughts and reflections were habitually her best companions.'

- Legendary author Jane Austen (1775 -1817)

'A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.'

- Irish Proverb

'I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.'

- Actress and singer Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992)

'Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.'

- Bobby Kennedy

'Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul—and sings the tunes without the words—and never stops at all.'

- Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

'No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.'

-Author Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.'

- Judy Garland

A quote from Van Gogh

"Find things beautiful as much as you can, most people find too little beautiful."

'The good ole days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.'

- Billy Joel (1949-present)

'The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.'

-Writer J.D. Salinger (1919-2010)

'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.'

- Inventor Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

'When you come to a fork in the road, take it.'

- Baseball great Yogi Berra (1925-2015)

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

'All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.'

- Musician George Harrison (1943–2001)

Ten writers and thinkers on what growing older actually requires of us

The Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran.

'Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.'

- Author Philip Roth (1933-2018)

In 'Lord of the Rings,' the 'palantír' is a magical stone that allows one to see virtually anything

The company Palantir's name was inspired by this J. R. R. Tolkien reference. In fact, it's one of several Peter Thiel-cofounded companies that have a nod to The Lord of the Rings for a name, including Valar Ventures and Mithril Capital.

'The bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.'

- Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

'The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.'

- Boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1942-2016)

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

'Men and nature must work hand in hand. The throwing out of balance of the resources of nature throws out of balance also the lives of men.'

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)

When testing climate models, computer simulations suggest that Middle-earth should be covered by forests—matching a description in 'The Lord of the Rings'—and that Westeros's long winters in 'Game of Thrones' may be linked to a wobbling planet.

'No one has ever become poor by giving.'

- Anne Frank (1929-1945)

'I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.'

- American novelist Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.'

- Author James Baldwin (1924–1987)

'You will never feel proud of your work if you find no joy within it; your best work is always joyful work.'

- Stevie Wonder (1950-present)

'If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.'

- Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)