J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

At the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth.

Legends die hard. They survive as truth rarely does.

Legend remains victorious in spite of history.

You can live in the world of myth and be taken seriously.

Fiction is Truth's elder sister. Obviously. No one in the world knew what truth was till some one had told a story.

What is truer than truth? Answer: the story.

The difference between a Miracle and a Fact is exactly the difference between a mermaid and a seal.

To begin with, I want to tell a good story, a story that people will listen to and that they'll think this is true, even if it is a story that might be defined as - as myth or legend or even fanciful.

Stories always seem to get better with age.

I like that 'once upon a time' quality, where the telling of a tale has an elevated sense of story. There's a whimsical quality to it. Sometimes in fairy tales more things seem possible, even though often they're real world based.

Yeah, I think that's it... It's like Jesse James. He became really popular because he lasted so long. You know, there is some degree of truth to the fact that time will dignify anything, too.

A myth is far truer than a history, for a history only gives a story of the shadows, whereas a myth gives a story of the substances that cast the shadows.

Legends are all to do with the past and nothing to do with the present.

Jack’s life had more to do with myth, legend, saga, and story than with political theory or political science.

People love a good story, even if it's a story that has very little truth to it.

Myths are fun, as long as you don't confuse them with the truth.

There is no story that is not true.

And as the years flowed by, some villagers told travelers of a beast and a beauty who lived in the castle and could be seen walking on the battlements, and others told of two beauties, and others, of two beasts.

Myth is much more important and true than history. History is just journalism and you know how reliable that is.

Strangely enough, there's this mythology sprouting out that I cannot stop.

As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.

History has its truth; and so has legend hers.

I think a myth is created from truth.

Even when the facts are available, most people seem to prefer the legend, and refuse to believe the truth when it in any way dislodges the myth.

Behind every myth lies a truth; beyond every legend is reality, as radiant (sometimes as chilling) as the story itself.