209 J.R.R. Tolkien Quotes: Wisdom from Middle-earth

This collection brings together 209 of Tolkien’s most memorable lines — drawn verbatim from his books, with the speaker and work noted for each. Lines that appear only in the films, not in Tolkien’s own writings, have been left out, so what you read here is the Professor’s own words.

Courage & Hope

1. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
4. Oft hope is born when all is forlorn. — Legolas, The Return of the King
5. 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 now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. — Haldir, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised. — Aragorn, The Return of the King
7. But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. — Éowyn, The Return of the King
8. Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace! — Éowyn, The Return of the King
9. Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter! Spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor! — Théoden, The Return of the King
10. Go back? No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go! — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
11. There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. — Gandalf, The Hobbit
12. In western lands beneath the Sun the flowers may rise in Spring, the trees may bud, the waters run, the merry finches sing. Or there maybe ’tis cloudless night and swaying beeches bear the Elven-stars as jewels white amid their branching hair. Though here at journey’s end I lie in darkness buried deep, beyond all towers strong and high, beyond all mountains steep, above all shadows rides the Sun and Stars for ever dwell: I will not say the Day is done, nor bid the Stars farewell. — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King
13. I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
14. Aurë entuluva! Day shall come again! — Húrin, The Silmarillion
15. Last of all Húrin stood alone. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
16. Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
17. Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens. — Gimli, The Fellowship of the Ring
18. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring

Wisdom

1. He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Elves seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill. — Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. — Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring
5. The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out. — Gildor Inglorion, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. — Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit
7. Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool! — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
8. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
9. 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 this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on? — Gandalf, The Hobbit
10. I’m looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone. — Gandalf, The Hobbit
11. We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
12. 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! — Gandalf, The Hobbit
13. Surely you don’t disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? — Gandalf, The Hobbit
14. Do not be hasty. — Treebeard, The Two Towers
15. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side. — Treebeard, The Two Towers
16. Many are the strange chances of the world, and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter. — Gandalf, The Silmarillion
17. The old wisdom born of the West was forsaken. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
18. 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. — Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit

Friendship

1. 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. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin — to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours — closer than you keep it yourself. — Merry Brandybuck, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. But you can’t trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo. — Merry Brandybuck, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
5. I made a promise, Mr. Frodo. A promise! ‘Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.’ And I don’t mean to. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
6. Come, Mr. Frodo! I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King
7. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
8. May the hair on his toes never fall out! — Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit
9. Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
10. I should like to save the Shire, if I could — though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don’t feel like that now. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
11. So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings! — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
12. Stay by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin’s Day will shine upon the key-hole. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
13. I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen, of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
14. Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
15. It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish. — Sam Gamgee, The Fellowship of the Ring
16. We’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales never end? — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
17. There is a seed of courage hidden (often deeply, it is true) in the heart of the fattest and most timid hobbit, waiting for some final and desperate danger to make it grow. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
18. Well, I’m back. — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King

The Journey

1. It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Home is behind, the world ahead, and there are many paths to tread. Through shadows to the edge of night, until the stars are all alight. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Still round the corner there may wait a new road or a secret gate. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Not all those who wander are lost. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old, we must away ere break of day, to seek the pale enchanted gold. — The Dwarves, The Hobbit
6. Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Blunt the knives and bend the forks! That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates — smash the bottles and burn the corks! — The Dwarves, The Hobbit
7. The pines were roaring on the height, the winds were moaning in the night; the fire was red, it flaming spread; the trees like torches blazed with light. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
8. Fifteen birds in five fir trees, their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze. — The Goblins, The Hobbit
9. Down, down, to Goblin-town, down, down, to Goblin-town, you go, my lad! — The Goblins, The Hobbit
10. I want to see mountains again, Gandalf, mountains. — Bilbo Baggins, The Return of the King
11. Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing? — Aragorn, The Two Towers
12. May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks. — Gandalf, The Hobbit
13. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
14. The dwarves of yore made mighty spells, while hammers fell like ringing bells, in places deep, where dark things sleep, in hollow halls beneath the fells. — The Dwarves, The Hobbit
15. Under the Mountain dark and tall, the King has come unto his hall! His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread, and ever so his foes shall fall. The sword is sharp, the spear is long, the arrow swift, the Gate is strong; the heart is bold that looks on gold; the dwarves no more shall suffer wrong. — The Dwarves, The Hobbit
16. The King beneath the mountains, the King of carven stone, the lord of silver fountains shall come into his own! — The Dwarves, The Hobbit
17. The wind was on the withered heath, but in the forest stirred no leaf: there shadows lay by night or day, and dark things silent crept beneath. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
18. Out of doubt, out of dark, to the day’s rising I came singing in the sun, sword unsheathing. To hope’s end I rode and to heart’s breaking: now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall! — Éomer, The Return of the King

Good vs Evil

1. 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. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. 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. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, Éowyn! — Aragorn, The Return of the King
5. It is useless to meet revenge with revenge; it will heal nothing. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
6. I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. — Faramir, The Two Towers
7. For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
8. Oft evil will shall evil mar. — Théoden, The Two Towers
9. A traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
10. Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
11. The rule of no realm is mine, neither of Gondor nor any other, great or small. But all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
12. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
13. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it. — Faramir, The Two Towers
14. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. — Ilúvatar, The Silmarillion
15. For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days of his greatness, and remained in that allegiance down into his darkness. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
16. Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
17. Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy and under the shadow of death light that endures. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
18. In the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Short Lines

1. Courage is found in unlikely places. — Gildor, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship. — Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. What have I got in my pocket? — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
4. A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid. — Gollum, The Hobbit
5. Fly, you fools! — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. You cannot pass. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
7. What a lot of things you do use Good morning for! — Gandalf, The Hobbit
8. And I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
9. It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. — Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring
10. The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. — Ioreth, The Return of the King
11. A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night. — Legolas, The Two Towers
12. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! — Gandalf, The Hobbit
13. The treacherous are ever distrustful. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
14. There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of Men bad enough for such treachery. — Treebeard, The Two Towers

Famous Verses

1. All that is gold does not glitter. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The world was young, the mountains green,
   No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
   No words were laid on stream or stone
   When Durin woke and walked alone. — Gimli, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
   One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
   Of him the harpers sadly sing:
   The last whose realm was fair and free
   Between the Mountains and the Sea. — Sam Gamgee, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
   Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
   Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
   One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
   In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
   One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
   One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
   In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
7. Fifteen birds in five fir-trees,
   their feathers were fanned in a fiery breeze!
   But, funny little birds, they had no wings!
   O what shall we do with the funny little things?
   Roast ’em alive, or stew them in a pot;
   fry them, boil them and eat them hot? — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
8. Clap! Snap! the black crack!
   Grip, grab! Pinch, nab!
   And down down to Goblin-town
   You go, my lad!
   Clash, crash! Crush, smash!
   Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs!
   Pound, pound, far underground!
   Ho, ho! my lad! — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
9. Old fat spider spinning in a tree!
   Old fat spider can’t see me!
   Attercop! Attercop!
   Won’t you stop,
   Stop your spinning and look for me? — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
10. A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
    silivren penna míriel
    o menel aglar elenath!
    Na-chaered palan-díriel
    o galadhremmin ennorath,
    Fanuilos, le linnathon
    nef aear, sí nef aearon! — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
11. Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
    yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
    Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
    mi oromardi lissë-miruvóreva
    Andúnë pella, Vardo tellumar
    nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
    ómaryo airetári-lírinen. — Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring
12. I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew:
    Of wind I sang, a wind there came and in the branches blew.
    Beyond the Sun, beyond the Moon, the foam was on the Sea,
    And by the strand of Ilmarin there grew a golden Tree.
    Beneath the stars of Ever-eve in Eldamar it shone,
    In Eldamar beside the walls of Elven Tirion.
    There long the golden leaves have grown upon the branching years,
    While here beyond the Sundering Seas now fall the Elven-tears.
    O Lórien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;
    The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.
    O Lórien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore
    And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.
    But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,
    What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea? — Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring
13. To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
    The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
    West, west away, the round sun is falling.
    Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling,
    The voices of my people that have gone before me?
    I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
    For our days are ending and our years failing.
    I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
    Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
    Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
    In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
    Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever! — Legolas, The Return of the King
14. The leaves were long, the grass was green,
    The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
    And in the glade a light was seen
    Of stars in shadow shimmering.
    Tinúviel was dancing there
    To music of a pipe unseen,
    And light of stars was in her hair,
    And in her raiment glimmering. — Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring
15. Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. — Ilúvatar, The Silmarillion

Gandalf’s Words

1. But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
3. Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
4. To crooked eyes truth may wear a wry face. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
5. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. — Gandalf, The Hobbit
6. 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. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
7. For I also am a steward. Did you not know? — Gandalf, The Return of the King
8. I am Gandalf the White, and I come back to you now at the turn of the tide. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
9. There never was much hope. Just a fool’s hope, as I have been told. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
10. Let us remember that a traitor may betray himself and do good that he does not intend. It can be so, sometimes. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
11. It is wisdom to recognize necessity, when all other courses have been weighed, though as folly it may appear to those who cling to false hope. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
12. A king will have his way in his own hall, be it folly or wisdom. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
13. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
14. We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone! — Gandalf, The Return of the King

Frodo’s Heart

1. I am almost in its power now. I could not give it up. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
2. I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
3. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
4. I am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a long burden. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
5. No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left to me. I am naked in the dark, Sam, and there is no veil between me and the wheel of fire. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
6. Of all the confounded nuisances you are the worst, Sam! — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
7. But you’ve left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. — Frodo Baggins, The Two Towers
8. There is no real going back. Though I may come to the Shire, it will not seem the same; for I shall not be the same. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
9. Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both no and yes. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
10. I don’t like anything here at all, step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed. But so our path is laid. — Frodo Baggins, The Two Towers
11. What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance! — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
12. I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
13. I have come, but I do not choose now to do what I came to do. I will not do this deed. The Ring is mine! — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
14. Begone, and trouble me no more! If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
15. Down, down! Down, you creeping thing, and out of my path! Your time is at an end. You cannot betray me or slay me now. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
16. In the last need, Sméagol, I should put on the Precious; and the Precious mastered you long ago. — Frodo Baggins, The Two Towers
17. It’s no good trying to escape you. But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
18. If I understand aright all that I have heard, I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

Sam’s Loyalty

1. I love him. He’s like that, and sometimes it shines through, somehow. But I love him, whether or no. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
2. I’ll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind. And I’ll carry Mr. Frodo up myself, if it breaks my back and heart. — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King
3. I said I’d carry him, if it broke my back, and I will! — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King
4. But even as hope died in Sam, or seemed to die, it was turned to a new strength. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
5. Sam’s plain hobbit-face grew stern, almost grim, as the will hardened in him. — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
6. Frodo was very brave, wasn’t he, dad? Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that’s saying a lot. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
7. Why, to think of it, we’re in the same tale still! It’s going on. Don’t the great tales never end? — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
8. 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. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
9. If you don’t come back, sir, then I shan’t, that’s certain. Don’t you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon; and if any of those Black Riders try to stop him, they’ll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with. — Sam Gamgee, The Fellowship of the Ring
10. His love for Frodo rose above all other thoughts, and forgetting his peril he cried aloud: ‘I’m coming, Mr. Frodo!’ — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
11. And we shouldn’t be here at all, if we’d known more about it before we started. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
12. Beren now, he never thought he was going to get that Silmaril from the Iron Crown in Thangorodrim, and yet he did, and that was a worse place and a blacker danger than ours. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
13. I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I’m coming with you. — Sam Gamgee, The Fellowship of the Ring
14. Now, Mr. Frodo, you shouldn’t make fun. I was serious. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers

On Power

1. Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself. Yet the way of the Ring to my heart is by pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good. Do not tempt me! I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. And now at last it comes. You will give me the Ring freely! In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair! — Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. I pass the test, she said. I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel. — Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. The Ring! Is it not a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt for so small a thing? So small a thing! — Boromir, The Fellowship of the Ring
5. We cannot destroy it by any craft that we here possess. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. — Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
7. Yet oft in lies truth is hidden: in the Sea it would be safe. — Glorfindel, The Fellowship of the Ring
8. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
9. There is only one Lord of the Ring, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power. — Gandalf, The Fellowship of the Ring
10. For I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours! — Saruman, The Fellowship of the Ring
11. But fear no more! I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and my glory. — Faramir, The Two Towers
12. I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong, strong, Thief in the Shadows! — Smaug, The Hobbit

On Home

1. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. So I thought too, once. But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them. — Frodo Baggins, The Return of the King
3. Alas! there are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured. — Gandalf, The Return of the King
4. Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What’s happened to the world? — Sam Gamgee, The Return of the King
5. I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. And All’s well as ends Better! — Gaffer Gamgee, The Return of the King
7. And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. — The Return of the King
8. Then the prophecies of the old songs have turned out to be true, after a fashion! — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
9. Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story. — Bilbo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
10. Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today. — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
11. I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone. — Gandalf, The Hobbit

Timeless Truths

1. I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
2. There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach. — The Return of the King
3. Don’t the great tales never end? — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
4. No, they never end as tales. But the people in them come, and go when their part’s ended. — Frodo Baggins, The Two Towers
5. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will. — Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring
6. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death. — Éowyn, The Return of the King
7. And then we can have some rest and some sleep. 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. — Sam Gamgee, The Two Towers
8. Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
   Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
   Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
   Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
   They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
   The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. — Aragorn, The Two Towers
9. 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! — Gandalf, The Hobbit

Middle-earth Magic

1. Eldest, that’s what I am. Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn. He made paths before the Big People, and saw the little People arriving. He was here before the Kings and the graves and the Barrow-wights. When the Elves passed westward, Tom was here already, before the seas were bent. He knew the dark under the stars when it was fearless – before the Dark Lord came from Outside. — Tom Bombadil, The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow;
   Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.
   None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the master:
   His songs are stronger songs, and his feet are faster. — Tom Bombadil, The Fellowship of the Ring
3. The trees and the grasses and all things growing or living in the land belong each to themselves. Tom Bombadil is the Master. — Goldberry, The Fellowship of the Ring
4. There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made. — The Silmarillion
5. If we stayed home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later. — Treebeard, The Two Towers
6. Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight? A man may do both. For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day! — Aragorn, The Two Towers
7. A star shines on the hour of our meeting. — Frodo Baggins, The Fellowship of the Ring
8. Yes, I am white now. Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been. — Gandalf, The Two Towers
9. You may indeed! I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen. — Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit
10. That night they heard no noises. But either in his dreams or out of them, he could not tell which, Frodo heard a sweet singing running in his mind: a song that seemed to come like a pale light behind a grey rain-curtain, and growing stronger to turn the veil all to glass and silver, until at last it was rolled back, and a far green country opened before him under a swift sunrise. — The Fellowship of the Ring
11. My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death! — Smaug, The Hobbit
12. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and found himself doing and saying things altogether unexpected. — The Hobbit

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was J.R.R. Tolkien?

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973) was an English writer and Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon, best known as the author of The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). A veteran of the First World War, he spent decades building Middle-earth — its languages, histories, and peoples — as a mythology for England, writing with a scholar’s precision and a storyteller’s heart.

What is J.R.R. Tolkien’s most famous quote?

“Not all those who wander are lost” is his most quoted line, from the poem “All that is gold does not glitter” in The Fellowship of the Ring, written of the ranger Aragorn. Other beloved lines include Gandalf’s “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us” and Sam’s “There’s some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.”

Which Tolkien book should I read first?

Start with The Hobbit (1937), the warm and adventurous tale of Bilbo Baggins that introduces Middle-earth in its friendliest form. Then read The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the full epic, and afterwards The Silmarillion — published posthumously in 1977 — for the deep mythology behind it all.

Did Tolkien write anything besides The Lord of the Rings?

Yes — besides The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), he wrote The Silmarillion, published posthumously in 1977 by his son Christopher, along with shorter works like Farmer Giles of Ham, Smith of Wootton Major, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Christopher Tolkien also assembled Unfinished Tales, The Children of Húrin, and the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth from his father’s manuscripts.

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