The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

he lived happily ever after to the end of his days.’

said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.

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.

^

“It’s a

dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door,” he used to say. “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.’

for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.

‘Courage is found in unlikely places,’ said Gildor. ‘Be of good hope!

‘You can trust us to stick to you through thick and thin – to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours – closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends,

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

that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers.