15 Tolkien quotes about life for Tolkien Reading Day 2014

By Emil Johansson / March 25, 2014 / / One Comment

When reading the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings or any other Tolkien book related
to Middle-earth I always find quotes that contain great wisdom about life. You
know, the kind you read again and again. Ive tried to gather a small selection of
those quotes here to inspire you to pick up one of Tolkiens books today.
A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to mee
t it.
- Sador, on loosing a leg by accident after fleeing battle, in The Children of H
urin, The Childhood of Trin
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a me
rrier world.
- Thorin II Oakenshield in The Hobbit, The Return Journey
He often used to say there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its
springs were at every doorstep and every path was its tributary. Its a dangerous
business, Frodo, going out of your door, he used to say. You step into the Road, a
nd if you dont keep your feet, there is no telling where you might be swept off t
o.
- Frodo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring, Three Is Company
There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usual
ly find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you wer
e after.
- Thorin II Oakenshield in The Hobbit, Over Hill And Under Hill
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all;
but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swif
tness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
- Faramir in The Two Towers, The Window on the West
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
- Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Shadow of the Past
It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing.
- Frodo in The Return of the King, The Scouring of the Shire
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us
for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fie
lds that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. Wha
t weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
- Gandalf in The Return of the King, The Last Debate
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 in The Fellowship of the Ring, Three is Company
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but stil
l there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with g
rief, it grows perhaps the greater.
- Haldir in The Fellowship of the Ring, Lothlrien
Many are the strange chances of the world, said Mithrandir, and help oft shall come
from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter.
- Gandalf in The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.
- Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Council of Elrond
Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die d
eserve 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 in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Shadow of the Past
Such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do
them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
- Elrond in The Fellowship of the Ring, The Ring Goes South
Deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.
- Aragorn in The Return of the King, The Passing of the Grey Company
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
- Poem by Bilbo Baggins in The Fellowship of the Ring, Strider
http://lotrproject.com/blog/2014/03/25/15-tolkien-quotes-about-life-for-tolkien-
reading-day-2014/