Doing a tiny bit of cleaning at th’office, I come across small sticky piles of old post-it notes with, for the most part, cryptic messages or references scribbled on them. But there is also the occasional gem:
“I am a philologist and all my work is philological. I avoid hobbies because I am a very serious person and cannot distinguish between private amusement and duty. I am affable, but unsociable. I only work for private amusement, since I find my duties privately amusing.”
– JRRT 1955, letter to Harvey Breit*
* Well, since I am nothing if not a geek, and have now made this blog a target of googling Tolkien-fans, I should note for the record that yes, I am aware that this is actually not what Tolkien wrote in his letter, but what Breit quoted Tolkien to have written, to which JRRT later took objection. (See for instance here or here. Or google for more.) But I still like the quote.