Doing a Ph.D. as Frodo's Quest - Dark Humour Disclaimer!
Note [-AW, 2023]
LOTR came out in 2001, 2002 and 2003 -- as I was doing my PhD.
Stage 1: Overconfidence
"I will take it! I will take the Ring to Mordor... though I do not know the way."
Stage 2: Despair and Hopelessness
"I can't do this Sam... [Snip Sam babbling, -A.W.] What are we holding on to Sam?"
Stage 3: Insanity
"I can't recall the taste of food... nor the sound of water... nor the touch of grass. I'm... naked in the dark. There's... There's nothing. No veil between me and the wheel of fire. I can see him [her, them -AW, 2023]... with my waking eyes."
[Source unknown, but from the Internet, long ago, -AW, 2023]
Stage 4: Melancholy
"The Shire has been saved, but not for me, Sam."