"The hobbits are, in fact, a self-portrait, if I may say so, not of what I am, but of what I should like to be."

"Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace and quiet and good tilled earth: a well-ordered and well-farmed countryside was thei…"

"Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a man is in prison, he will escape if he can and go home. If he cannot escape, he will think and talk about escape. If he cannot do that, he will think a…"

"There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after."

"I often feel that I am a visitor in this world, that I am not really of it."