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Famous J. R. R. Tolkien Quotes

“For Isildur would not surrender it to Elrond and Círdan who stood by. They counselled him to cast it into the fire of Orodruin night at hand... But Isildur refused this counsel, saying: 'This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I that dealt the Enemy his death-blow?' And the Ring that he held seemed to him exceedingly fair to look on; and he would not suffer it to be destroyed.”

LooksHandsNightSufferingFatherEnemyFireBrotherFairsCastsBlowRingsSurrenderDestroyedMy BrotherSauronElrond
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“One tiny Hobbit against all the evil the world could muster. A sane being would have given up, but Samwise burned with a magnificent madness, a glowing obsession to surmount every obstacle, to find Frodo, destroy the Ring, and cleanse Middle Earth of its festering malignancy. He knew he would try again. Fail, perhaps. And try once more. A thousand, thousand times if need be, but he would not give up the quest.”

IfsWorldNeedsGivingTryingEarthEvilGivenFailingMiddleThousandGiving UpMadnessObstaclesTinyRingsObsessionQuestsSaneBurnedMagnificentNot Giving UpGiven UpTry AgainGlowingMusterFrodoMiddle EarthSamwiseFesteringSamwise GamgeeMalignancy
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Gandalf: Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee. Have you been eavesdropping? Sam: I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you'll follow me. Gandalf: A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think? Sam: I heard raised voices. Gandalf: What did you hear? Speak. Sam: N-nothing important. That is, I heard a good deal about a ring, and a Dark Lord, and something about the end of the world, but... Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural.”

IfsThinkingWorldLittlesImportantEndsTurnsSpeakVoiceHurtDarkDealsLordCuttingHeardHonestPleaseLateWindowRaisedRingsGrassEnd Of The WorldFellowshipUnnaturalHurt MeFollow MeVergeTurn MeFellowship Of The RingLord Of The RingEavesdroppingTrimmingSamwiseSamwise GamgeeDon't Hurt Me
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“His head was swimming, and he was far from certain even of the direction they had been going in when he had his fall. He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment.”

ThinkingKnowsWayWellsMomentsUseHandsSeemsLyingCertainFallFeltCareersParticularColdMetsTinyRingsPocketsSwimmingMetalsTunnelsGood WayTurning PointsLying On The Floor
Book:The Hobbit
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“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.”

GivingHeartMayEndsPlayDiesChanceDealsWiseFateMy HeartDeserveBoundsIllRingsPityJudgementFrodoVery WiseFellowship Of The RingLord Of The Ring
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death. . . . . . (quoting an obituary) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings”

IfsKnowsMenWorldHumansWellsMayWholeStoriesHappensDiesNaturalLordOne ThingKeysSpringAgreeAccidentsEvery ManRingsWhole WorldViolationInevitabilityQuotingObituaryNatural DeathInevitability Of Death
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“Pippin: I didn't think it would end this way. Gandalf: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... And then you see it. Pippin: What? Gandalf?... See what? Gandalf: White shores... and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise. Pippin: Well, that isn't so bad. Gandalf: No... No it isn't.”

ThinkingWorldWayWellsEndsCountryTurnsWhitePathJourneyThis WorldRainGreenGlassesRingsSilverShoreSunriseGreyCurtainsReturn Of The KingPippin
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“One writes such a story [The Lord of the Rings] not out of the leaves of trees still to be observed, nor by means of botany and soil-science; but it grows like a seed in the dark out of the leaf-mold of the mind: out of all that has been seen or thought or read, that has long ago been forgotten, descending into the deeps. No doubt there is much personal selection, as with a gardener: what one throws on one's personal compost-heap; and my mold is evidently made largely of linguistic matter.”

WritingMindMeanLongHas BeensMadeStillsMatterStoriesGrowsDarkLordDoubtTreeForgottenSeedsRingsSoilNo DoubtLong AgoLeafsSelectionGardenerMoldDescendingCompostBotany
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.”

WorldFirstsStoriesCoursesReligiousLordPracticeCuttingElementsCatholicRingsImaginaryCultSymbolismRevisionImaginary World
Book:The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
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“She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illuminated her alone and left all else dark. She stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful. Then she let her hand fall, and the light faded, and suddenly she laughed again, and lo! she was shrunken: a slender elf-woman, clad in simple white whose gentle voice was soft and sad.”

HandsLightBeautifulFallLeftVoiceDarkSimpleWhiteTerribleLaughterEndureRingsGentleTallLaughedMeasurementSeemingFadedSlenderFrodoGaladriel
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“All that is gold does not glitter.”

DoeLordTravelRootsGoldRingsWanderFellowshipTravellerGlitterOf My MindBeing StrongTravel The WorldRoad TripLife Is An AdventureMy JourneyStrength Of WillFrodoLife Is A JourneyWitheringFaithlessStrong WilledFellowship Of The RingGreat PoetryMiddle EarthTravel JourneyRoads And JourneysFrodo BagginsReturn Of The KingFeeling LostPippinLord Of The RingDeep MeaningShireRoad LifeInspiring MovieDeep RootsTravel LightSamwiseFantasy NovelsStriderWandering MindWeak And StrongTravel BooksBeautiful BooksAmazing BookSilmarillionGreatest PoetryGondorMordorStrong RootsProfound Spiritual
Book:The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings
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