Never have things of the spirit counted for so little. Never has hatred for everything great been so manifest – disdain for beauty, execration of literature. I have always tried to live in an ivory tower, but a tide of shit is beating at its walls,...
I have you fast in my fortress, And will not let you depart, But put you down into the dungeon, In the round-tower of my heart, And there will I keep you forever, Yes, forever and a day, Till the walls shall crumble to ruin, And moulder in the dust a...
I have every luxury imaginable, I own acres of land, and have enough money to buy the moon were it for sale. Though people think I have everything, it sometimes feels like my possessions own me; towering over me and reducing me into a small bundle of...
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." — J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers)
We were trying to get all of the planes down out of the sky. And we watched as the towers of the World Trade Center collapsed - something no one expected and anticipated. And you could sit there and see and be aware that thousands of people were at t...
[during the storm, a wave hits the conning tower and Kriechbaum notices that Pilgrim is missing] Kriechbaum: [looking aft] Man overboard! Pilgrim: [screaming while he holds on to railing by the flak gun] Kriechbaum: Pilgrim! [gets to Pilgrim, then ca...
[about the passing Wood-elves] Frodo: They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers. To the Grey Havens. Sam: They're leaving Middle-earth. Frodo: Never to return. Sam: I don't know why - it makes me sad.
Theoden: Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this?
Theoden: Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Wormtongue: A just question, my liege. Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. "Lathspell" I name him. Ill news is an ill guest.
Saruman: Together, my lord Sauron, we shall rule this Middle-earth. The old world will burn in the fires of industry. Forests will fall. A new order will rise. We will drive the machine of war with the sword and the spear and the iron fist of the orc...
Sam: You know I don't usually hold with foreign food, but this Elvish stuff - it's not bad. Frodo: Nothing dampens your spirits Sam. Sam: [looks at the nearing rain clouds] Those rain clouds might.
Aragorn: [of Orcs] Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent. Hurry! Legolas: Come on, Gimli! Gimli: Three days and nights pursuit. No food, no rest. No sign of our quarry, but what bare rock can tell!
[from the extended edition] Boromir: You give him no credit and yet he tries to do your will. He loves you, Father. Denethor: Do not trouble me with Faramir. I know his uses and they are few.
Treebeard: We have just agreed... [Merry and Pippin lean in] Merry: Yes? Treebeard: I have told your names to the Entmoot, and we have agreed you are not Orcs. Pippin: Well, that's good news.
Treebeard: Many of these trees were my friends. Creatures I had known from nut or acorn. Pippin: I'm sorry, Treebeard. Treebeard: They had voices of their own. Saruman! A wizard should know better!
Sam: Mordor... the one place in Middle-Earth we don't want to see any closer... the one place we're trying to get to... is just where we can't get. Let's face it, Mr. Frodo. We're lost!
Sam: We're innocent travelers. Faramir: There are no travelers in this land... only servants of the Dark Lord. Frodo: We are bound to an errand of secrecy. Those who claim to oppose the enemy would do well not to hinder us.
[inside the Death Star] Lando Calrissian: All right, Wedge. Go for the power regulator on the north tower. Wedge Antilles: Copy, Gold Leader. I'm already on my way out.
Gilbert: [climbing of the water tower] It's not going to happen again. This is the last time. Right Arnie? Arnie: It's the last time. Gilbert: Okay. Let's go. Arnie: But I want to go back up there again.
It used to be that readers were relegated because they considered themselves far above society, and so the metaphor of the ivory tower developed. Now there's still this idea that the reader doesn't take part in the social game and in politics, the re...
Tony Stark: You should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top 10 floors all R&D, you'd love it... it's candyland. Bruce Banner: Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke... Harlem.
