We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one else can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world....
J. R. R. Tolkien, the near-universally-hailed father of modern epic fantasy, crafted his magnum opus The Lord of the Rings to explore the forces of creation as he saw them: God and country, race and class, journeying to war and returning home. I’ve...
Lots of people are born into lives that feel like a journey in the very middle of a big ship on familiar seas; they sit comfortably, crossing their legs, they know when the sun will rise and when the moon will wane, they have plans that they follow, ...
Dori: Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge? Gandalf: It is raining, Master dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard. Bilbo Bag...
Gandalf: Of course I was going to tell you, I was waiting for this very chance. And really, I think you could trust that I know what I am doing. Elrond: Do you? That dragon has slept for 60 years. What will happen if your plan should fail? If you wak...
Bilbo Baggins: [Bilbo interrupts as he's about to eat Gloin] Uh... not... not that one, he... he's infected! William Troll: You what? Bilbo Baggins: Yeah he's got worms in his... tubes. Tom Troll: Ooh! [Tom throws down Gloin in disgust] Bilbo Baggins...
Gollum: Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, sleepies. We must go, yeeees, we must go at once. Sam: Haven't you had any sleep, Mr. Frodo? [Frodo shakes his head] Sam: I've gone and had too much... it must be getting late. Frodo: No, it isn't. It isn't midday, ...
Gollum: Wake up. Wake up. Wake up, sleepies. We must go, yeeees, we must go at once. Sam: Haven't you had any sleep, Mr. Frodo? [Frodo shakes his head] Sam: I've gone and had too much... it must be getting late. Frodo: No, it's not. It's not midday, ...
Jake Sully: [Narrating] In cryo, you don't dream at all. It doesn't *feel* like six years - more like a fifth of Tequila and an ass kicking. Tommy was a scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot light years out in space to find the ans...
I'm not crying out for help, but I am sharing my experience in the hopes that readers will get something out of it. I'm not the one who gets to decide what that is, if anything. I'm just starting the "journey" if you will, so I can't possibly know ye...
We all say we hate being misunderstood and how we desperately want to find people who understand us. But it is not lack of compatible people that keeps us lonely. There is no shortage of people on your journey. The real, secret obstacle that we have ...
Once poverty is gone, we'll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They'll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society - how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and desp...
If you ever loved anything in your life, try to remember it. If you ever betrayed anything, pretend for a moment that you have been forgiven. If you ever feared anything, pretend for an instant that those days are gone and will never return. Buy the ...
God listens and He responds. Sometimes His reply could be “I’m with you. Do not be afraid.” Sadly, many times we withdrew long before receiving the blessing He has for us, what He wants to show us; or we get disappointed because we don’t reco...
Tavi spent an eternity in misery, longing for death to bring sweet release from the unrelenting torment. The others gathered at the side of his bunk on the ship, keeping a deathwatch over him. "I don't see what all the drama is about," Demos said, hi...
Whatever it is, don’t do it!” said Catarina. “It’s a bad idea.” “And why do you say that?” “Because they’re the only kind you have,” she said. “I have known you a long time, and I am absolutely certain on this subject. If you ar...
It was Eric's voice not Simon's, on the recorded message. “Ladies, ladies ” he said. Though it was the millionth time she’d heard the recording, Clary couldn't help rolling her eyes. “If you've reached this message that means our boy Simon is...
I made an attempt to reach him in his grief. I said, "I've had this pain. To tell you it will go away would be a lie. It will never go away. But, if you live long enough, it will cease to torture and will instead favor you. As we rely on the bitterne...
I wouldn't change it," Simon said. "I wouldn't give up loving you. Not for anything. You know what Raphael told me? That I didn't know how to be a good vampire, that vampires accept that they're dead. But as long as I remember what it was like to lov...
There had been a long period of time during which he remembered being very happy. But things change. People change. Change was one of the most inevitable laws of nature, exacting its toll on people's lives. Mistakes are made, regrets form, and all th...
argued that 'even in the best of times the great mass of citizens will most probably possess few resources other than their daily labour and, consequently, be always near indigence'. As long as working man was near indigence, hunger would remain an e...
