“But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.”

Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot be always torn in two. You will have to be one and whole, for many years. You have so much to enjoy and to be, and to do.

What does your heart tell you?

There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West. Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

How shall a man judge what to do in such times?’

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 wrecked by the frost.

So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.

Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.

Deserves it! I daresay he does. 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.

No Victory Without Suffering

What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!’

I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number.

In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.

May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.

Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.

The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.

A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship.

The old church tower and garden wall Are black with autumn rain And dreary winds foreboding call The darkness down again.

What other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart! What jailer so inexorable as one’s self!

The great empire will be torn from limb, the all-powerful one for more than four-hundred years: Great power given to the dark one from slaves come.

God made night, But man made darkness.

It’s her black wings that make her beautiful.

You’d be a fool to think that you leaving me in darkness meant I’d stay there forever.

There were hints of sunrise on the rim of the sky, yet it was still dark, and the traces of morning color were like goldfish swimming in ink.

When there’s doom and gloom, don’t forget there’s darkness before dawn.