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'Oh, yes, Ariston's son, the lad who talks like a prince. I've not seen him since.' - 'You'll be seeing him soon; he's going to the Games with us, to wrestle in the boys' class.' - 'You were right, then, when you said he would be heard of again.' - 'Yes, and I fancy his chances too, unless another city puts up someone outstanding. He was born for a wrestler, it's stamped all over him, too clearly indeed for grace...

„Nein, du bist ja fast fertig, Herr Frodo!“, rief Sam aus. „Na, du hast dich aber rangehalten, das muss ich sagen.“
„Ich bin ganz fertig, Sam“, sagte Frodo. „Die letzen Seiten sind für dich.“

We speak not strictly and philosophically when we talk of the combat of passion and of reason. Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.

I looked at his fine shoulders, flat and wide without being too heavy, and resolved to spend more time with the disk and javelin. Even now, though the rising generation seems to think nothing of it, I cannot bear to see a runner gone all to legs, looking as if he would be fit for nothing, when off the track, except to get away from a battlefield faster than anyone else.

I could think of no answer to this, so I said, 'Father told you I wasn't to hear the sophists: Sokrates is a philosopher.' - 'Any sophist,' said Midas sniffing, 'is a philosopher to his friends.'

"Aber erinnerst du dich an Gandalfs Worte: Selbst Gollum mag noch eine Rolle zu spielen haben? Ohne ihn, Sam, hätte ich den Ring nicht vernichten können. Die Fahrt wäre umsonst gewesen, selbst am bitteren Ende. So wollen wir ihm vergeben! Denn die Aufgabe ist erfüllt, und nun ist alles vorbei. Ich bin froh, dass du hier bei mir bist. Hier am Ende aller Dinge, Sam."

Let all powers and elements of nature conspire to serve and obey one man: Let the sun rise and set at his command: The sea and rivers roll as he pleases, and the earth furnish spontaneously whatever may be useful or agreeable to him: He will still be miserable, till you give him some one person at least, with whom he may share his happiness, and whose esteem and friendship he may enjoy.

Dort ... sah Sam eine Weile einen weißen Stern funkeln. Seine Schönheit griff ihm ans Herz, als er aufschaute aus dem verlassenen Land, und er schöpfte wieder Hoffnung. Denn wie ein Pfeil, klar und kalt, durchfuhr ihn der Gedanke, dass letzlich der Schatten nur eine kleine und vorübergehende Sache sei: Es gab Licht und hehre Schönheit, die auf immer außerhalb seiner Reichweite waren.

Deng had been publicly denounced as "the number-two capitalist roader" after Liu Shaoqi and excluded from his state and Party positions. His brother was publicly tortured and died by suicide, his eldest son was paralyzed from the chest down after jumping from a window when terrorized by Red Guards at Peking University, and a brother-in-law died while being persecuted.

„In jener Stunde sah ich Aragorn an und dachte, was für ein großer und entsetzlicher Gebieter er mit seiner Willensstärke hätte werden können, wenn er den Ring für sich genommen hätte. Nicht umsonst fürchtet Mordor ihn. Aber edler ist seine Seele, als Sauron sich vorstellen kann; stammt er denn nicht von Lúthiens Kindern ab?“

On such an occasion we are apt not only to forget our scepticism, but even our modesty too; and make use of such terms as these, 'tis evident, 'tis certain, 'tis undeniable; which a due deference to the public ought, perhaps, to prevent. I may have fallen into this fault after the example of others; but I here enter a caveat against any objections, which may be offer'd on that head; and declare that ...

..reason is incapable of dispelling these clouds, nature herself suffices to that purpose, and cures me of this philosophical melancholy... . I dine, I play a game of back-gammon, I converse, and am merry with my friends; and when after three or four hour's amusement, I wou'd return to these speculations, they appear so cold, and strain'd, and ridiculous, that I cannot find in my heart to enter into them any farther.

When I look abroad, I foresee on every side, dispute, contradiction, anger, calumny and detraction. When I turn my eye inward, I find nothing but doubt and ignorance. All the world conspires to oppose and contradict me; tho' such is my weakness, that I feel all my opinions loosen and fall of themselves, when unsupported by the approbation of others. Every step I take is with hesitation, and every new reflection...

Methinks I am like a man who having struck on many shoals, and having narrowly escap'd ship-wreck in passing a small frith, has yet the temerity to put out to sea in the same leaky weather-beaten vessel, and even carries his ambition so far as to think of compassing the globe under these disadvantageous circumstances. My memory of past errors and perplexities, makes me diffident for the future.

As long as our attention is bent upon the subject, the philosophical and study'd principle may prevail; but the moment we relax our thoughts, nature will display herself, and draw us back to our former opinion. Nay she has sometimes such an influence, that she can stop our progress, even in the midst of our most profound reflections, and keep us from running on with all the consequences of any philosophical opinion.

Und in dieser Stunde war die große Schlacht auf dem Feld von Gondor vorüber ... Alle wurden erschlagen außer jenen, die flohen, um zu sterben oder in den roten Fluten des Flusses zu ertrinken. Wenige kamen jemals wieder in den Osten nach Morgul oder Mordor; und in das Land des Haradrim gelangte nur eine Erzählung von weit her: ein Gerücht von dem Zorn und Schrecken von Gondor.

Like Yegong of Chinese lore—an old man who loved dragon paintings but recoiled in horror when he met real dragons—Mao liked revolution in principle but not when it interfered with his own plans.

In November 1966 a group of Red Guards traveled from Beijing to Confucius's hometown, Qufu, in Shandong, where they set out to wreck temples and memorial halls. But toppling statues and burning books were not enough for their energetic vandalism. First, they dynamited the tomb of the ancient sage himself. Then they proceeded to dig up the coffins of the thousands of Confucius's descendants who had been buried there.

The latter position, at least if one argues for unintended consequences, may have some truth to it, though its claims do rather remind us of the old Polish joke that Communism is the longest possible road from capitalism to capitalism.

We've largely ignored Darwin's scribbled note to himself not to use the words 'higher' or 'lower' in discussions. This is especially true of mental processes,which we routinely label as 'higher order' or 'lower order'. Many of us now assume that only one kind of thinking has intrinsic value.[...]that there's only one kind of thinking, and only humans can do it. This is not only wrong;it impoverishes the living world.