Happy Birthday to J.R.R. Tolkien!

J.R.R. Tolkien, British Roman Catholic author, was born on January 3, 1892. I often appreciate the wisdom of one of his most famous literary characters, Gandalf.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 50:

Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again.

‘I wish it need not have have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.

‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.’