β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Not all those who wander are lost.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," 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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but 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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
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.
And whither then? I cannot say
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
What do you fear, lady?" [Aragorn] asked.
"A cage," [Γowyn] 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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien
β
Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Where there's life there's hope.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
Short cuts make long delays.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Where did you go to, if I may ask?' said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
To look ahead,' said he.
And what brought you back in the nick of time?'
Looking behind,' said he.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,
Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,
It lies behind stars and under hills,
And empty holes it fills,
It comes first and follows after,
Ends life, kills laughter.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot for ever fence it out.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
If by my life or death I can protect you, I will.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
The world is full enough of hurts and mischances without wars to multiply them.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
But I have been too deeply hurt, Sam. I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. 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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year oldβs life:
The Lord of the Rings
and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
[Kung Fu Monkey -- Ephemera, blog post, March 19, 2009]
β
β
John Rogers
β
Don't go where I can't follow!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
Home is behind, the world ahead,
and there are many paths to tread
through shadows to the edge of night,
until the stars are all alight.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
You have nice manners for a thief and a liar," said the dragon.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the endβ¦ because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, itβs only a passing thingβ¦ this shadow. Even darkness must pass.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Then world behind and home ahead,
We'll wander back and home to bed.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
Go back?" he thought. "No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
PIPPIN: I didn't think it would end this way.
GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
PIPPIN: What? Gandalf? See what?
GANDALF: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
PIPPIN: Well, that isn't so bad.
GANDALF: No. No, it isn't.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
It is useless to meet revenge with revenge; it will heal nothing.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone.'
I should think so β in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
β
Fair speech may hide a foul heart.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of UdΓ»n. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
May the hair on your toes never fall out!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
What does your heart tell you?
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)
β
Yes, I am here. And you are lucky to be here too after all the absurd things you've done since you left home.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Fly you fools
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: 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 to us.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
All's well that ends better.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings, #1-3))
β
Γnen i-estel edain, ΓΊ-chebin estel anim.
(I gave Hope to the DΓΊnedain, I have kept none for myself.)
(Gilraen's linnod)
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
The road goes ever on and on
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Γowyn I am, Γomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
Motherfuckers will read a book thatβs one third Elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they [white people] think weβre taking over.
β
β
Junot DΓaz
β
In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," said Aragorn: "you still speak in riddles."
"What? In riddles?" said Gandalf. "No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Out of doubt, out of dark to the day's rising
I came singing into the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode and to heart's breaking:
Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red nightfall!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on on the story.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
β
β
Peter Jackson
β
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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,' said Frodo.
Sam looked at him unhappily. 'It all depends on what you want,' put in Merry. 'You can trust us to stick with 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, Frodo.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
My dear Frodo!β exclaimed Gandalf. βHobbits really are amazing creatures, as I have said before. You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
β
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. 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.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
β
I am old, Gandalf. I don't look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed! Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can't be right. I need a change, or something.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
β
The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien
β
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,
While hammers fell like ringing bells
In places deep, where dark things sleep,
In hollow halls beneath the fells.
For ancient king and elvish lord
There many a gleaming golden hoard
They shaped and wrought, and light they caught
To hide in gems on hilt of sword.
On silver necklaces they strung
The flowering stars, on crowns they hung
The dragon-fire, in twisted wire
They meshed the light of moon and sun.
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away, ere break of day,
To claim our long-forgotten gold.
Goblets they carved there for themselves
And harps of gold; where no man delves
There lay they long, and many a song
Was sung unheard by men or elves.
The pines were roaring on the height,
The wind was moaning in the night.
The fire was red, it flaming spread;
The trees like torches blazed with light.
The bells were ringing in the dale
And men looked up with faces pale;
The dragon's ire more fierce than fire
Laid low their towers and houses frail.
The mountain smoked beneath the moon;
The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.
They fled their hall to dying fall
Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.
Far over the misty mountains grim
To dungeons deep and caverns dim
We must away, ere break of day,
To win our harps and gold from him!
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Good Morning!" said Bilbo, and he meant it. The sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.
"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain.
...
"Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water." By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.
"What a lot of things you do use Good morning for!" said Gandalf. "Now you mean that you want to get rid of me, and that it won't be good till I move off.
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit (The Lord of the Rings, #0))
β
Where now are the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the harp on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
β
β
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
β
Roads Go Ever On
Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.
Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
And trees and hills they long have known.
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.
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 weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
Let others follow, if they can!
Let them a journey new begin.
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
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J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
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And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.
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J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
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No matter how old you are now. You are never too young or too old for success or going after what you want. Hereβs a short list of people who accomplished great things at different ages
1) Helen Keller, at the age of 19 months, became deaf and blind. But that didnβt stop her. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
2) Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5.
3) Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on βBright Eyes.β
4) Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank.
5) Magnus Carlsen became a chess Grandmaster at the age of 13.
6) Nadia ComΔneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14.
7) Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15.
8) Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil.
9) Elvis was a superstar by age 19.
10) John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961.
11) Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936.
12) Beethoven was a piano virtuoso by age 23
13) Issac Newton wrote Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica at age 24
14) Roger Bannister was 25 when he broke the 4 minute mile record
15) Albert Einstein was 26 when he wrote the theory of relativity
16) Lance E. Armstrong was 27 when he won the tour de France
17) Michelangelo created two of the greatest sculptures βDavidβ and βPietaβ by age 28
18) Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world
19) J.K. Rowling was 30 years old when she finished the first manuscript of Harry Potter
20) Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
21) Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind
22) Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest
23) Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech βI Have a Dream."
24) Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics
25) The Wright brothers, Orville (32) and Wilbur (36) invented and built the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight
26) Vincent Van Gogh was 37 when he died virtually unknown, yet his paintings today are worth millions.
27) Neil Armstrong was 38 when he became the first man to set foot on the moon.
28) Mark Twain was 40 when he wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", and 49 years old when he wrote "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
29) Christopher Columbus was 41 when he discovered the Americas
30) Rosa Parks was 42 when she refused to obey the bus driverβs order to give up her seat to make room for a white passenger
31) John F. Kennedy was 43 years old when he became President of the United States
32) Henry Ford Was 45 when the Ford T came out.
33) Suzanne Collins was 46 when she wrote "The Hunger Games"
34) Charles Darwin was 50 years old when his book On the Origin of Species came out.
35) Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa.
36) Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president.
37) Ray Kroc Was 53 when he bought the McDonalds Franchise and took it to unprecedented levels.
38) Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat".
40) Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger III was 57 years old when he successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009. All of the 155 passengers aboard the aircraft survived
41) Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise
42) J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring books came out
43) Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became President of the US
44) Jack Lalane at age 70 handcuffed, shackled, towed 70 rowboats
45) Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President
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Pablo
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Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, of course, but I mean: put into words, you know, told by the fireside, or read out of a great big book with red and black letters, years and years afterwards. And people will say: "Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring!" And they will say: "Yes, that's one of my favourite stories. Frodo was very brave, wasn't he, dad?" "Yes, my boy, the famousest of the hobbits, and that's saying a lot."
'It's saying a lot too much,' said Frodo, and he laughed, a long clear laugh from his heart. Such a sound had not been heard in those places since Sauron came to Middle-earth. To Sam suddenly it seemed as if all the stones were listening and the tall rocks leaning over them. But Frodo did not heed them; he laughed again. 'Why, Sam,' he said, 'to hear you somehow makes me as merry as if the story was already written. But you've left out one of the chief characters: Samwise the stouthearted. "I want to hear more about Sam, dad. Why didn't they put in more of his talk, dad? That's what I like, it makes me laugh. And Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam, would he, dad?"'
'Now, Mr. Frodo,' said Sam, 'you shouldn't make fun. I was serious.'
'So was I,' said Frodo, 'and so I am.
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J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
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We shouldn't be here at all, if we'd known more about it before we started. But I suppose it's often that way. The brave things in the old tales and songs, Mr. Frodo: adventures, as I used to call them. I used to think that they were things the wonderful folk of the stories went out and looked for, because they wanted them, because they were exciting and life was a bit dull, a kind of a sport, as you might say. But that's not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in the mind. Folk seem to have been just landed in them, usually β their paths were laid that way, as you put it. But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten. We hear about those as just went on β and not all to a good end, mind you; at least not to what folk inside a story and not outside it call a good end. You know, coming home, and finding things all right, though not quite the same β like old Mr Bilbo. But those aren't always the best tales to hear, though they may be the best tales to get landed in! I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?
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J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))