“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.”

It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.

May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.

I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to

For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

Come, Mr. Frodo!’ he cried. ‘I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you.

Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.

It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.

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.

It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.

I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen.

There are no safe paths in this part of the world. Remember you are over the Edge of the Wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go.

Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.

Fair speech may hide a foul heart.

Never laugh at live dragons.

The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.

I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.

If you gave them once the love that they did not deserve, they will come back for more.

If I only give you what you deserve, at least keep me away from what I don’t deserve.

Respect me, not because I respect you, but because I deserve your respect.

The most stable, and therefore, the most healthy self-esteem is based on deserved respect from others rather than on external fame or celebrity and unwarranted adulation.

Isn’t it amazing how easily you can cheat yourself out of the right choices by convincing yourself that you deserve the wrong ones? It’s highly illogical when you think about it. You deserve a better life, you deserve better health, and you deserve to lose weight.

Remember that everyone deserves some fun during working hours.

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

The person you hurt the most doesn’t deserve to be hurt.