“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by frost.”
“And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world.”
“Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many - yours not least.”
“Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.”
“Few can foresee whither their road will lead them, till they come to its end.”
"For myth is alive at once and in all its parts, and dies before it can be dissected. It is possible, I think, to be moved by the power of myth and yet to misunderstand the sensation, to ascribe it wholly to something else that is also present: to metrical art, style, or verbal skill."
“Frodo was now safe in the Last Homely House east of the Sea. That house was, as Bilbo had long ago reported, "a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep, or story-telling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all." Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear and sadness.”
" 'He deserves death'.
'Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them ? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.' "
“He should not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”
“He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.”
“He who breaks a thing to find out what it is, has left the path of wisdom.”
“His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking, best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.”
"I believe that legends and myth are largely made of truth,and indeed present aspects of it that can only be perceived in this mode; and long ago certain truths and modes ofthis kind were discovered and must always reappear."
“I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”
“I don´t like anything here at all,” said Frodo, “step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water seem all accursed. But so our path is laid.”
“Yes, that´s so,” said Sam. “And we shouldn´t be here at all, if we´d known more about it before we started. But I suppose it´s often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that´s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have just landed in them, usually – their paths were lead that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn´t. And if they had, we shouldn´t know, because they´d have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on – and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call s good end. You can know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same – like old Mr. Bilbo. But those aren´t always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of tale we´ve fallen into?”
“I wonder,” said Frodo. “But I don´t know. And that´s the way of a real tale. Take any one that you´re fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don´t know. And you don´t want them to.”
“No, sir, of course not. (…) And why, sir, I never thought of that before! We´ve got – you´ve got some of the light of it in that star-glass that the Lady gave you! Why, to think of it, we´re in the same tale still! It´s going on. Don´t the great tales never end?”
“No, they never end as tales,” said Frodo. “But the people in them come, and go, when their part´s ended. Our part will end later – or sooner.”
“And then we can have some rest and some sleep,” said Sam. “And I mean just that, Mr. Frodo. I mean plain ordinary rest, and sleep, and waking up to a morning´s work in the garden. I´m afraid that´s all I´m hoping for all the time. All the big important plans are not for my sort. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs ot tales, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: “Let´s hear about Frodo and the Ring!” And they´ll say: “Yes, that´s one of my favorite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn´t he, dad?” “Yes, my buy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that´s saying a lot.””
“It´s saying a lot too much,” said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in such places since Sauron came to Middle Earth. To Sam, it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. “Why, Sam,” he said, “to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you´ve left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. “I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn´t they put in more of his talk, dad? That´s what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn´t have got far without Sam, would he, dad?”
“Now, Mr. Frodo,” said Sam, “you shouldn´t make fun. I was serious.”
“So was I,” said Frodo, “and so am I. We´re going on a bit too fast. You and I, Sam, are still stuck in the worst places of the story, and it´s all too likely that some will say at this point: “Shut the book now, dad; we don´t want to read anymore.””
“Maybe,” said Sam, “but I wouldn´t be one to say that. Things done and over and made into part of the great tales are different. Why, even Gollum might be good in a tale, better than he is to have by you, anyway. And he used to like tales himself once, by his own account. I wonder if he thinks he´s the hero or the villain?”
”I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
Band wind upon my hair.”
"It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him."
“It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.”
“So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending.”
“Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”
“Still round the corner there may wait,
A new road or a secret gate.”
“Surely you do not disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”
“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”
“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.”
“The wide world is all about you; you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.”
“The wise speak only of what they know.”
”The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is mingled with grief, love grows perhaps the greater.”
“What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good on this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”
“You can only come to the morning through the shadows.”
