Best Quotes from The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien with Page Numbers

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.

Eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you.

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.

Take care! I don’t care. Don’t you worry about me! I am as happy now as I have ever been.

It is time he was his own master now.

Keep it secret, and keep it safe!

I might find somewhere where I can finish my book.

It would quite spoil the joke.

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

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

Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.

The Ring will not be able to stay hidden in the Shire much longer; and for your own sake, as well as for others, you will have to go.

Hobbits really are amazing creatures.

You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess: not for power or wisdom, at any rate.

But there was so much at stake that I had to take some risk.

Even Gollum was not wholly ruined.

The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength.

There is only one way: to find the Cracks of Doom in the depths of Orodruin, the Fire-mountain.

It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door.

The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began.

You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.

Courage is found in unlikely places.

May the stars shine upon the end of your road!

It is not our custom, but for this time we will take you on our road.

You had best walk in the middle so that you may not stray.

O Wise People! Tell us about the Black Riders!

For where am I to go? And by what shall I steer?

I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can’t turn back.

The inheritance is mine alone. I don’t think I ought even to take Sam.

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 have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire.

I am content. We will go together.

Short cuts make long delays.

It is less easy to find people in the woods and fields.

I know, I will be glad now when I do.

I’ve been in terror of you and your dogs for over thirty years.

‘Look back, Mr. Frodo! Do you see anything?’

‘What in the Shire is that?’ exclaimed Merry.

‘But I could not allow it. I decided that long ago, too.'

‘You do not understand!’ said Pippin. ‘You must go – and therefore we must, too.’

‘We are your friends, Frodo. Anyway: there it is. We know most of what Gandalf has told you. We know a good deal about the Ring.'

‘If the danger were not so dark, I should dance for joy. Even so, I cannot help feeling happy; happier than I have felt for a long time.'

‘Dear old Frodo!’ said Pippin. ‘Did you really think you had thrown dust in all our eyes?’

‘It’s delightful!’ he said with an effort. ‘I hardly feel that I have moved at all.’

‘I will take Gildor’s advice. If the danger were not so dark, I should dance for joy.'

‘We must away! We must away! We ride before the break of day!’

‘Good-bye, Frodo!’ he said. ‘I wish you were not going into the Forest. I only hope you will not need rescuing before the day is out. But good luck to you – today and every day!’

‘If there are no worse things ahead than the Old Forest, I shall be lucky.’

‘There! You have left the Shire, and are now outside, and on the edge of the Old Forest.’

‘I have only once or twice been in here after dark, and then only near the hedge. I thought all the trees were whispering to each other, passing news and plots along in an unintelligible language.’

‘O! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not! For though dark they stand, all woods there be must end at last, and see the open sun go past.’

‘They do not like all that about ending and failing.’

‘I suppose we haven't got an axe among our luggage, Mr. Frodo?’

‘What a foul thing to happen!’ cried Frodo wildly. ‘Why did we ever come into this dreadful Forest? I wish we were all back at Crickhollow!’

‘You let them out again, Old Man Willow!’ said he. ‘What be you a-thinking of? You should not be waking. Eat earth! Dig deep! Drink water! Go to sleep!’

‘Fear neither root nor bough! Tom goes on before you.’

‘Fear nothing! For tonight you are under the roof of Tom Bombadil.’

‘Welcome!’ she said. ‘I had not heard that folk of the Shire were so sweet-tongued.’

‘For nothing passes door and window here save moonlight and starlight and the wind off the hill-top.’

‘You shall clean grimy hands, and wash your weary faces; cast off your muddy cloaks and comb out your tangles!’

‘Have peace now,’ she said, ‘until the morning!’

‘Now is the time for resting. Some things are ill to hear when the world’s in shadow.’

‘Mark my words, my friends: Tom was here before the river and the trees; Tom remembers the first raindrop and the first acorn.’

‘Good night! Have peace now, until the morning!’

‘Keep to the green grass. Don’t you go a-meddling with old stone or cold Wights or prying in their houses, unless you be strong folk with hearts that never falter!’

‘Tom, Tom! your guests are tired, and you had near forgotten!’

‘Speed now, fair guests! And hold to your purpose! North with the wind in the left eye and a blessing on your footsteps! Make haste while the Sun shines!’

‘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.’

‘Old knives are long enough as swords for hobbit-people; sharp blades are good to have, if Shire-folk go walking, east, south, or far away into dark and danger.’

‘By water, wood and hill, by the reed and willow, by fire, sun and moon, harken now and hear us!’

‘Tom’s country ends here: he will not pass the borders. Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting!’

‘What do you mean?... Clothes are but little loss, if you escape from drowning. Be glad, my merry friends!’

‘Night under Night is flown, and the Gate is open!’

‘You’ve found yourselves again, out of the deep water.’

‘Come on! Follow me!’ he called back over his shoulder, and he hurried forward.

‘Let us go on!’

‘Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.’

‘But there is such a crowd already in the house tonight as there hasn’t been for long enough. It never rains but it pours, we say in Bree.’

‘Drink, fire, and chance-meeting are pleasant enough, but, well – this isn’t the Shire. There are queer folk about.’

‘There are queer folk about. Though I say it as shouldn’t, you may think.’

‘If you go on to The Pony, you’ll find you’re not the only guests.’

‘I should be sorry not to make you welcome.’

‘What your business is is your own, but it’s my business to ask questions after nightfall.’

‘It is safer indoors!’

‘I hope that my brief visit will help to renew the old ties of friendship between the Shire and Bree.’

‘Perhaps you would rather go to your beds. Still the company would be very pleased to welcome you.’

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.

But I am the real Strider, fortunately; I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.

Do not give up hope! Gandalf is greater than you Shire-folk know.

‘AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!’

‘Open, in the name of Mordor!’ said a voice thin and menacing.

‘There is still hope,’ he said. ‘You are not alone.'

'Fire is our friend in the wilderness.'

‘You need not be afraid of starving before winter comes. But gathering and catching food is long and weary work, and we need haste. So tighten your belts, and think with hope of the tables of Elrond’s house!’

'For the black horses can see, and the Riders can use men and other creatures as spies...and in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that are hidden from us.'

‘I wish we could feel sure that he made the marks, whatever they may mean,’ said Frodo. ‘It would be a great comfort to know that he was on the way.'

‘I do indeed,’ answered Strider. ‘So also does Frodo, for it concerns us closely.’

‘Not all the birds are to be trusted, and there are other spies more evil than they are.’

‘Maybe,’ muttered Sam. ‘It is also as good a way of saying “here we are” as I can think of, bar shouting.'

Your Frodo is made of sterner stuff than I had guessed.

You must trust me now.

He is not slain, and I think he will resist the evil power of the wound longer than his enemies expect.

I will do all I can to help and heal him.

Do not give up hope!

The enemies believe your master has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will.

We shall see!

We can hardly meet greater danger wherever we go.

Alas! the wounds of this weapon are beyond my skill to heal.

But you need not fear: my horse will not let any rider fall that I command him to bear.

You are lucky to be here, too, after all the absurd things you have done since you left home.

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

Your heart was not touched, and only your shoulder was pierced; and that was because you resisted to the last.

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

We must keep up our courage.

You will soon be well, if I do not talk you to death.

Still, we should keep up our courage.

The Dark Lord is putting forth all his strength.

The Elves may fear the Dark Lord, but never again will they listen to him or serve him.

The Ring is another: you are the Ring-bearer.

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.

The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule.

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.

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

If you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right.

Your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world.

The road must be trod, but it will be very hard.

That’s what I meant. We hobbits ought to stick together, and we will.

There must be someone with intelligence in the party.

But we are envying Sam, not you. If you have to go, then it will be a punishment for any of us to be left behind.

You will meet many foes, some open, and some disguised; and you may find friends upon your way when you least look for it.

The Company must depart.

The further you go, the less easy will it be to withdraw.

Neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy...

You do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may meet upon the road.

Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

May the stars shine upon your faces!

'To go back is to admit defeat, and face worse defeat to come.'

'If we go back now, then the Ring must remain there: we shall not be able to set out again.'

'There is even a chance that Dwarves are there, and that in some deep hall of his fathers, Balin son of Fundin may be found.'

'You encourage me. We will seek the hidden doors together. And we will come through.'

'One must tread the path that need chooses!'

'It is as I feared; these were no ordinary wolves hunting for food in the wilderness. Let us eat quickly and go!'

'But the question is: who will follow me, if I lead you there?'

'It is time we began to climb up again.'

'Let us rest, if we can. Things have gone well so far, and the greater part of the dark road is over. But we are not through yet, and it is a long way down to the Gates that open on the world.'

'The world is grey, the mountains old, the forge’s fire is ashen-cold; no harp is wrung, no hammer falls: the darkness dwells in Durin’s halls.'

You cannot pass.

Fly, you fools!

The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn.

I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor.

So ended the attempt to retake Moria! It was valiant but foolish.

There is more about you than meets the eye.

It is grim reading.

Light the way ahead!

Now for the last race!

We cannot get out.

We must do without hope; at least we may yet be avenged.

Let us gird ourselves and weep no more!

My heart will be glad, even in the winter.

Do not lay it aside, even in sleep, unless fortune brings you where you are safe for a while.

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair.

Folly it may seem, but the Company shall all fare alike.

Would it please you to climb with me up Cerin Amroth?

Here is the heart of Elvendom on earth.

Come with me!

Alas for Lothlórien that I love!

‘Nay, there was no change of counsel,’ said the Lady Galadriel, speaking for the first time. Her voice was clear and musical, but deeper than woman’s wont.

‘Tell us now the full tale!’ said Celeborn.

‘Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lórien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, though it had become an abode of dragons?

‘Yet they will cast all away rather than submit to Sauron: for they know him now.’

‘The love 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.’

‘But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel, saying do this, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is, and in part also what shall be.’

‘Your Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all.’

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled,’ she said. ‘Tonight you shall sleep in peace.’

‘I pass the test,’ she said. ‘I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.’

‘For the fate of Lothlórien you are not answerable, but only for the doing of your own task.’

‘Now is the time,’ he said, ‘when those who wish to continue the Quest must harden their hearts to leave this land.'

‘If my advice is heeded, it will be the western shore, and the way to Minas Tirith.’

‘Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them.'

‘For you I have prepared this.’ She held up a small crystal phial: it glittered as she moved it, and rays of white light sprang from her hand. ‘In this phial,’ she said, ‘is caught the light of Eärendil’s star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you.'

‘This stone I gave to Celebrían my daughter, and she to hers; and now it comes to you as a token of hope.'

‘Yet maybe this will lighten your heart,’ said Galadriel; ‘for it was left in my care to be given to you, should you pass through this land.'

‘Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream.'

‘But you have not forsaken your companions, and the least reward that you shall have is that the memory of Lothlórien shall remain ever clear and unstained in your heart.'

‘I have looked the last upon that which was fairest.’

‘Nay!’ said Legolas. ‘Alas for us all! And for all that walk the world in these after-days. For such is the way of it: to find and lose, as it seems to those whose boat is on the running stream.'

‘How wide and empty and mournful all this country looks!’ said Frodo.

‘Now dark and ominous it loomed up in the night.’

‘I might say “luggage with eyes”.’

‘There is a track, and it leads to a good landing that is still serviceable.’

‘Under their shadow Elessar, the Elfstone son of Arathorn of the House of Valandil Isildur’s son, heir of Elendil, has naught to dread!’

‘The heart of Legolas was running under the stars of a summer night in some northern glade amid the beech-woods.’

‘The passing seasons are but ripples ever repeated in the long long stream.’

‘Rich are the hours, though short they seem, in Caras Galadhon.’

‘It is still winter, and we are far from the sea.’

‘There, maybe, we shall see some sign that will guide us.’

‘The day has come at last,’ he said: ‘the day of choice which we have long delayed. What shall now become of our Company that has travelled so far in fellowship?‘

‘In this matter I cannot advise you. I am not Gandalf, and though I have tried to bear his part, I do not know what design or hope he had for this hour, if indeed he had any.’

‘I know that haste is needed, yet I cannot choose. The burden is heavy. Give me an hour longer, and I will speak. Let me be alone!’

‘Are you sure that you do not suffer needlessly? I wish to help you. You need counsel in your hard choice. Will you not take mine?’

‘I do not doubt the valour of your people. But the world is changing.’

‘I will do now what I must,’ he said. ‘This at least 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.'

‘But surely they will understand. Sam will. And what else can I do?’

‘Now, Sam,’ said Frodo, ‘don’t hinder me! The others will be coming back at any minute.'

‘It is plain that we were meant to go together. We will go, and may the others find a safe road!’

‘Yet we may, Mr. Frodo. We may.’