The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

‘What do you fear, lady?’ he asked. ‘A cage,’ she said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’

And in that very moment, away behind in some courtyard of the City, a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.’

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.

It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.