The original ‚Hobbit‘ was never intended to have a sequel – Bilbo ‚remained very happy to the end of his days and those were extraordinarily long‘: a sentence I find an almost insuperable obstacle to a satisfactory link.

Uncontrolled, the hunger and thirst after God may become an obstacle, cutting off the soul from what it desires. If a man would travel far along the mystic road, he must learn to desire God intensely but in stillness, passively and yet with all his heart and mind and strength.

Acting is happy agony.

Happy the country that lives on nothing but its wits; cursed be the one that thinks it can get rich by planting or digging or drilling for wealth.

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!

The thornbush is the old obstacle in the road. It must catch fire if you want to go further.

I believe that singing is the key to long life, a good figure, a stable temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super self-confidence, heightened sexual attractiveness, and a better sense of humor.

Surely a long life must be somewhat tedious, since we are forced to call in so many trifling things to help rid us of our time, which will never return.

I’m so happy because today I found my friends – they’re in my head.

At the major studios, you see people wanting to remake a TV series, wanting to make a sequel.

I feel very happy to be living in Berkeley because there are a lot of people who are politically active here.

Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.

Frankly, if I could get away with not having to perform, I’d be very happy. It’s not my favorite thing to do.

It is possible for a woman to be a romantic, but also to be single and to be happy.

I’m healthy as can be – not an ache or a pain. A lot of my prayer is thanking the Lord that I am healthy. I pray for long life and good health.

I grew up as this very carefree, happy kid then things turned darker for me. Maybe it was because I saw that the world wasn’t as happy a place as I had hoped it would be for me.

Though the Jazz Age continued it became less and less an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children’s party taken over by the elders.

Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.

I should like to save the Shire, if I could – though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them.

The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.

I just felt that if I went into Speed 2, I just… wouldn’t have come up out of the water.

All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.

The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.

That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest number of noble and happy human beings.

If you really want to know what Middle-earth is based on, it’s my wonder and delight in the earth as it is, particularly the natural earth.