Best Quotes from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien with Page Numbers

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

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.

Courage is found in unlikely places.

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.

I am being swept off my feet at last.

There are some, even in these parts, as know the Fair Folk and get news of them.

Not all those who wander are lost.

Even Gollum was not wholly ruined.

It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need.

Even the very wise cannot see all ends.

"If you don’t mind me saying so, my dear fellow, you seem to be a bit of a fool here and there, don’t you?"

"You’ll have a merry time, one day, I hope, in the Shire. And now, we will keep our mouths shut and leave you to yourselves!"

"I’ll not stand by and let you go off without a word!"

"Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?"

"This is going to be a long journey!"

"Good night! I don’t remember you ever having a chance of being late, but I will do my best tomorrow to avoid disappointing you!"

"For tonight you are under the roof of Tom Bombadil."

"There’s earth under his old feet, and clay on his fingers; wisdom in his bones, and both his eyes are open."

"If you want anything, ring the hand-bell and Nob will come. If he doesn’t come, ring and shout!"

"A shadow seemed to pass by the window, and the hobbits glanced hastily through the panes."

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 the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken.

A light from the shadows shall spring.

Renewed shall be blade that was broken.

The crownless again shall be king.

Your friend promised to have a quiet talk with me.

You have been much too careless so far.

‘There are many powers in the world, for good or for evil. Some are greater than I am. Against some I have not yet been measured. But my time is coming.’

‘That was touch and go: perhaps the most dangerous moment of all.’

‘It is no small feat to have come so far, and through such dangers, still bearing the Ring.’

‘Fortune or fate have helped you, not to mention courage.’

‘Hobbits fade very reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would quickly have been overcome by that splinter.’

‘There is power, too, of another kind in the Shire.’

‘We must keep up our courage. You will soon be well, if I do not talk you to death.’

‘Do not worry! I think well of you – and of the others.’

‘May your courage be stronger than your fears!’

‘This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.’

"In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the House of Elendil!"

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight you shall sleep in peace."

"Even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought. But still the door is closed!"

"The Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper."

"Remember Galadriel and her Mirror!"

"The power of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea, and their regret is undying and cannot ever wholly be assuaged."

"Yet little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlórien..."

"For you I have prepared this."

"If hope should not fail, then I say to you, Gimli son of Glóin, that your hands shall flow with gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion."

"The love of the Elves for their land and their works is deeper than the deeps of the Sea..."

I will do now what I must.

This is plain: the evil of the Ring is already at work even in the Company, and the Ring must leave them before it does more harm.

I cannot trust, and those I can trust are too dear to me.

The world is changing.

We must go warily tomorrow.

He was aware of himself again, Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose.

It is no good trying to escape you. But I’m glad, Sam. I cannot tell you how glad.

It would be mad and cruel to let Frodo go to Mordor.

I am going to Mordor.

It seems different so far away, in the Shire or in Rivendell.

"You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not fall!"

"I am unscathed, for I was not here with him. He fell defending the hobbits, while I was away upon the hill."

"Boromir has laid it on me to go to Minas Tirith, and my heart desires it; but where are the Ring and the Bearer?"

"What is to be done now?" said Legolas. "First we must tend the fallen."

"With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And woe to them, if we prove the swifter!"

"Let me think! And now may I make a right choice, and change the evil fate of this unhappy day!"

"I do not know, but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend."

"When the world was young, and the woods were wide and wild, the Ents and the Entwives... they walked together and they housed together."

"By the roots and the branches of the earth, I shall stop it!" said Treebeard. "I will do it!"

"But! If we stayed at home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later."

But a man cannot walk on a sword-blade; he must find a way to turn.

There is something happening inside, or going to happen. Do you not feel the tenseness?

Fangorn himself, he is perilous too; yet he is wise and kindly nonetheless.

Hope is not victory.

The Great Sea has risen in wrath and fallen on the hills with storm.

Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find.

Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone, we go to war.

Not one shall be left alive to take back tidings to the North.

But it seems that more could be said.

I will not deceive you: we know no tales about hobbits.

"Come, come! There is no need for whispering. Our numbers are few, but we are certainly not without courage."

"We do not come here to beg."

"You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council."

"I fear you have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service."

"The treacherous are ever distrustful."

"Why have you not come before, and as a friend?"

"You are a liar, Saruman, and a corrupter of men’s hearts."

"There is no lie in your eyes, as I feared. But he did not speak long with you. A fool, but an honest fool, you remain…"

"The burned hand teaches best. After that advice about fire goes to the heart."

"Hope is in speed!"

"Delay plays into the Enemy's hands."

"But now it isn't possible for you and me alone to find a way back, and the Orcs are prowling on the east bank."

"Every day that passes is a precious day lost."

"It's my doom, I think, to go to that Shadow yonder, so that a way will be found."

"What hope we had was in speed. Delay plays into the Enemy's hands – and here I am: delayed. Is it the will of the Dark Tower that steers us?"

"I don't know what is to be done."

"What can I do, Mr. Frodo? What can I do?"

"He has promised, and that will hold him to it; but it will seek a way to twist it to your own undoing."

"Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need."

"Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety."

"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."

"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 telling where you might be swept off to."

"Courage is found in unlikely places."

"I will 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."

"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 swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."

"There is a shadow in the forest. But do not fear, for I have sworn to protect you on the road ahead."

"I would have nothing to do with such matters. I would see the White Tree in flower again in the courts of the kings, and the Silver Crown return, and Minas Tirith in peace."

"Alas, if only we had known the fate that awaited us!"

"You may call me to task for not being brave enough, but I do not desire this burden. I have a duty, and if I am to fulfill it, I must remain free of the shadow."

"The Ring is treachery, and it corrupts even the strongest among us."

'I have something to do before the end. I must see it through, sir, if you understand.'

'You’ve hurt my master, you brute, and you’ll pay for it. We’re going on; but we’ll settle with you first.'

'Now come, you filth!' he cried. 'You’ve hurt my master, you brute, and you’ll pay for it. We’re going on; but we’ll settle with you first. Come on, and taste it again!'

'Galadriel!' he said faintly, and then he heard voices far off but clear... And with that he staggered to his feet and was Samwise the hobbit, Hamfast’s son, again.

'Good-bye, master, my dear! Forgive your Sam. He’ll come back to this spot when the job’s done – if he manages it.

'I’ve got to go on.'

'May I be forgiven! Now I’ve got to get back to him. Somehow, somehow!'

'What am I to do then?' he cried again, and now he seemed plainly to know the hard answer: see it through.

'You’ve been put forward. And as for not being the right and proper person, why, Mr. Frodo wasn’t, as you might say, nor Mr. Bilbo. They didn’t choose themselves.'

'No, it’s sit here till they come and kill me over master’s body, and gets It; or take It and go.'

‘You do not comfort me,’ said Pippin, but nonetheless sleep crept over him.

‘A Halfling,’ answered Gandalf. ‘Nay, not the one that was spoken of,’

‘Many a doer of great deeds might say no more,’ said Ingold.

‘Courage will now be your best defence against the storm that is at hand – that and such hope as I bring.'

‘He has passed through more battles and perils than you have, Ingold, though you be twice his height; and he comes now from the storming of Isengard, of which we bear tidings.’

‘It is long since the beacons of the North were lit,’ he said; ‘and in the ancient days of Gondor they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones.’

‘You are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days.'

‘Not all the tidings that I bring are evil.'

‘Partly ruinous it seemed, but already before the night was passed the sound of hurried labour could be heard.’

‘Sleep again, and do not be afraid!’ said Gandalf. ‘For you are not going like Frodo to Mordor, but to Minas Tirith, and there you will be as safe as you can be anywhere in these days.”

Now is the hour come, Riders of the Mark, sons of Eorl! Foes and fire are before you, and your homes far behind.

Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden! Fell deeds awake: fire and slaughter!

To hope’s end I rode and to heart’s breaking: Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!

The White Horse ran rippling in the wind.

He is dead as he foresaw.

Yet, though you fight upon an alien field, the glory that you reap there shall be your own for ever.

A grim morn, and a glad day, and a golden sunset!

But no! I said this would be prudent. I do not counsel prudence.

The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known.

But I say to you, that as my friend Aragorn succoured me and my people, so I will aid him when he calls.

‘But do not be ashamed. If you do no more in this war, you have already earned great honour.'

‘Come, Master Perian! You are still in pain, I see. I will help you back to the Healers. But do not fear! They will come back.'

‘Go! But keep what honour you may, and do not run! And there is a task which you may attempt and so be not wholly shamed.'

‘Take your way south-west till you come to Cair Andros, and if that is still held by enemies, as I think, then re-take it, if you can; and hold it to the last in defence of Gondor and Rohan!’

‘We did not come here to waste words in treating with Sauron, faithless and accursed; still less with one of his slaves. Begone!’

‘It needs more to make a king than a piece of Elvish glass, or a rabble such as this.'

‘These we will take in memory of our friend,’ he cried. ‘But as for your terms, we reject them utterly.'

‘Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him.'

‘Sauron gives none. If you sue for his clemency you must first do his bidding.’

‘I wish Merry was here,’ he heard himself saying, and quick thoughts raced through his mind.

‘The Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.’

‘But do you remember Gandalf’s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do?’

‘He was a lean, starved, haggard thing, all bones and tight-drawn sallow skin.’

‘Crouched under a great boulder they sat facing back westward and did not speak for some time.’

‘I’ll get there, if I leave everything but my bones behind.’

‘The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.’

‘Whatever the cost of our endeavor, acceptance is the beginning and the end of every journey.’

‘In that dreadful light Sam stood aghast, for now, looking to his left, he could see the Tower of Cirith Ungol in all its strength.’

‘I wish I could hear it told! Do you think they’ll say: Now comes the story of Nine-fingered Frodo and the Ring of Doom?’

‘This is the hour of doom.’

"It is not always good to be healed in body. Nor is it always evil to die in battle, even in bitter pain."

"But I shall sicken anew, if there is naught that I can do."

"I looked for death in battle. But I have not died, and battle still goes on."

"You have passed under the wings of the Shadow, and the same hand drew us back."

"I do not believe that any darkness will endure!"

"You are beautiful, Éowyn of Rohan, and my heart is warmed by your presence."

"All things will grow with joy there, if the White Lady comes."

"A great light leaped forth, and the waters of Anduin shone like silver."

"Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever."

"May they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!"