Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes

I recently finished reading The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. It was a very interesting compilation of letters Tolkien wrote to his publishers, children, fans and friends between 1914 and 1973. They really paint a picture of Tolkien’s thoughts and personality. As a longtime fan and admirer of Tolkien, I enjoyed the book a lot. It made me want to take up letter writing although it seems a lost art these days. Some of the things he said really stood out to me so I made special note of them. Here are some quotes I marked:

[On choosing to use “dwarves” rather than “dwarfs” in The Hobbit]

“The real ‘historical’ plural of dwarf (like teeth of tooth) is dwarrows anyway: rather a nice word, but a bit too archaic. Still, I rather wish I had used the word dwarrow.” (#17, 1937)

[In response to a potential German publisher of The Hobbit inquiring in 1938 whether he was of Aryan race.]

“I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” (#30, 1938)

“Though in times of peace we get, perhaps (and naturally and for the purpose rightly), too engrossed in thinking of everything as a preparation or training or making one fit – for what? At any minute it is what we are and are doing, not what we plan to be and do that counts.” (#40, 1940)

“There is a place called ‘heaven’ where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued.” (#45,1941)

“You have to understand the good in things, to detect the real evil.” (#45, 1941)

“…that ruddy ignoramus Adolf Hitler…” (#45,1941)

“But who knows? We are in God’s hands. Our lot has fallen on evil days: but that cannot be by mere ill chance. Take care of yourself in all due ways (aequam serva mentem, comprime linguam [keep a calm mind and restrain the tongue])” (#61, 1944)

“Good sermons require some art, some virtue, some knowledge. Real sermons require some special grace which does not transcend art but arrives at it by instinct or ‘inspiration’; indeed the Holy Spirit seems sometimes to speak through a human mouth providing art, virtue and insight he himself does not possess: but the occasions are rare.” (#63, 1944)

“The utter stupid waste of war, not only material but moral and spiritual, is so staggering to those who have to endure it. And always was (despite the poets), and always will be (despite the propagandists) – not of course that it has not is and will be necessary to face it in an evil world.” (#64, 1944)

“[Priscilla Tolkien has] just read Out of the S. Planet and Perelandra; and with good taste preferred the latter. But she finds it hard to realize that Ransom is not meant to be a portrait of me (though as a philologist I may have some part in him, and recognize some of my opinions and ideas Lewisified in him).” (#77, 1944)

“Do ‘ramble on’. Letters need not be only about exterior events (though all details are welcome). What you are thinking is just as important: Christmas, bee-noises, and all the rest.” (#83, 1944)

“It is the aeroplane of war that is the real villain… My sentiments are more or less those that Frodo would have had if he discovered some Hobbits learning to ride Nazgûl birds, ‘for the liberation of the Shire’.” (#100, 1945)

[On the atomic bomb]

“The utter folly of these lunatic physicists to consent to do such work for war-purposes: calmly plotting the destruction of the world!” (#102, 1945)

“Reward on earth is more dangerous for men than punishment!” (#130, 1950)

“The Lord of the Rings is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like ‘religion’, to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.” (#142, 1953)

“…an imaginary mythical Age (mythical, not allegorical: my mind does not work allegorically).” (#144, 1954)

“As a story, I think it is good that there should be a lot of things unexplained (especially if an explanation actually exists);” (#144, 1954)

“Great harm can be done, of course, by this potent mode of ‘myth’ – especially wilfully. The right to ‘freedom’ of the subcreator is no guarantee among fallen men that it will not be used as wickedly as is Free Will.” (#153, 1954)

“But it is difficult to stop once roused on such an absorbing topic to oneself as oneself.” (#163, 1955)

“I do think of the ‘Dwarves’ like Jews; at once native and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue….” (#176, 1955)

“I have now got a pestilent doctorate thesis to explore, when I would rather be doing something less useful….” (#176, 1955)

“For if there is anything in a journey of any length, for me it is this: a deliverance from the plantlike state of helpless passive sufferer, an exercise however small of will, and mobility – and of curiosity, without which a rational mind becomes stultified.” (#183, 1956)

“As ‘research students’ always discover, however long they are allowed, and careful their work and their notes, there is always a rush at the end, when the last date suddenly approaches on which their thesis must be presented.” (#187, 1956)

“I wish well-meaning folk who think they know could be restrained!” (#236, 1961)

[On working on the entry for "hobbit" in the Oxford English Dictionary]

“Oh what a tangled web they weave who try a new word to conceive!” (#319, 1971)

“[The name Tolkien] is not Jewish in origin though I should consider it an honour if it were.” (#324, 1971)