I think about this a lot.

I honestly don't know what to make of this statement by Mr. Tolkien. Everything - that we know of - which lives, dies. Death is both inevitable and completely "natural". In Tolkien's world, the Valar are immortal & Elves are immortal. The Blessed Lands are the Undying Lands - but humans can not go there. For Humans, Hobbits, Dwarves, and Ents, death will find them all. Tolkien was a very deep thinker and he is completely beyond me here.

I was lucky enough to visit his and his wife’s grave a few weeks back. He will always be one of the greatest minds of all time.

People make a lot out of Tolkien quoting Simone de Beauvoir, but the quotation is from John Warrack's biography of Carl Maria von Weber. So it's really about one of Tolkien's favourite composers.

Hmm… the kings of numenor would give up their lives freely for the next generation. Interesting. Puts that bit of knowledge into perspective. Hmm. I gotta go reread the books again soon.

Life is the problem, not death. We will never know the truth about the world or ourselves rendering it meaningless. Even if life had meaning, within 2 generations of your death, the memory of you will be forgotten, perhaps lingering on in the occasional thoughts of a few.

@grok, be so kind, post in a written form what just Mr. Tolkien said so I can use you to translate it

Man I wish the man lived long enough to voice audio books. I'll have to settle for short clips

You aren't alone. Try being an author, it hangs in our brains a lot more.

Shut it, white boy