“
It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings (Middle Earth, #2-4))
“
Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
It would be the death of you to come with me, Sam," said Frodo, "and I could not have borne that."
"Not as certain as being left behind," said Sam.
"But I am going to Mordor."
"I know that well enough, Mr. Frodo. Of course you are. And I'm coming with you.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
I blame Doctor Who. Mr Spock. The Scooby Gang: both the ones in the Mystery Machine and the ones with the stakes. I've spent my life with stories of people who don't walk away, who go back for their friends, who make that last stand. I've been brainwashed by Samwise Gamgee.
”
”
Andrea K. Höst (Stray (Touchstone, #1))
“
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.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Gandalf: Confound it all, Samwise Gamgee. Have you been eavesdropping?
Sam: I ain't been droppin' no eaves sir, honest. I was just cutting the grass under the window there, if you'll follow me.
Gandalf: A little late for trimming the verge, don't you think?
Sam: I heard raised voices.
Gandalf: What did you hear? Speak.
Sam: N-nothing important. That is, I heard a good deal about a ring, and a Dark Lord, and something about the end of the world, but... Please, Mr. Gandalf, sir, don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
One tiny Hobbit against all the evil the world could muster. A sane being would have given up, but Samwise burned with a magnificent madness, a glowing obsession to surmount every obstacle, to find Frodo, destroy the Ring, and cleanse Middle Earth of its festering malignancy. He knew he would try again. Fail, perhaps. And try once more. A thousand, thousand times if need be, but he would not give up the quest.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
Sam: I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales. Frodo: [turns around] What? Sam: I wonder if people will ever say, 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring.' And they'll say 'Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad?' 'Yes, my boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.' Frodo: [continue walking] You've left out one of the chief characters - Samwise the Brave. I want to hear more about Sam. [stops and turns to Sam] Frodo: Frodo wouldn't have got far without Sam. Sam: Now Mr. Frodo, you shouldn't make fun; I was being serious. Frodo: So was I. [they continue to walk] Sam: Samwise the Brave...
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
It's like 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 end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee
“
Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you and it as well. So up you get! Come on, Mr. Frodo dear! Sam will give you a ride. Just tell him where to go, and he'll go
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Frodo: Go back, Sam! I’m going to Mordor alone.
Sam: Of course you are, and I’m coming with you!
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
I don't know how to say it, but after last night I feel different. I seem to see ahead, in a kind of way. I know we are going to take a very long road, into darkness; but I know I can't turn back. It isn't right to see Elves now, nor dragons, nor mountains, that I want - I don't rightly know what I want: but I have something to do before the end, and it lies ahead, not in the Shire. I must see it through, sir, if you understand me.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee
“
I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. 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 end. 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, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee
“
Is everything sad going to come untrue?
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
Snow's all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed when it's falling
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee
“
Samwise Gamgee would never leave Frodo like this. No hero would ever do this. But books were only a reflection of real life, not the thing itself.
”
”
Kristin Hannah (The Great Alone)
“
Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee
“
Yes, perhaps, yes' said Gollum. 'Sméagol always helps, if they asks - if they asks nicely.'
''Right!' says Sam. 'I does ask. And if that isn't nice enough, I begs.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
Where are you going, Master?' cried Sam, though at last he understood what was happening.
'To the Havens, Sam,' said Frodo.
'And I can't come.'
'No, Sam. Not yet, anyway, not further than the Havens. Though you too were a Ring-bearer, if only for a little while. Your time may come. Do not be too sad, Sam. You cannot always be 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.'
'But,' said Sam, and tears started in his eyes, 'I thought you were going to enjoy the Shire, too, for years and years, after all you have done.'
'So I thought too, once. 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. But you are my heir: all that I had and might have had I leave to you. And also you have Rose, and Elanor; and Frodo-lad will come, and Rosie-lass, and Merry, and Goldilocks, and Pippin; and perhaps more that I cannot see. Your hands and your wits will be needed everywhere. You will be the Mayor, of course, as long as you want to be, and the most famous gardener in history; and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger, and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part in the Story goes on.
'Come now, ride with me!
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Don't leave me here alone. Don't go where I can't follow.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord Of The Rings (box set))
“
Let him go, you filth! Let him go! You will not touch him again!
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
There was a lot more to that song,' said Sam, 'all about Mordor. I didn’t learn that part, it gave me the shivers. I never thought I should be going that was myself!'
'Going to Mordor!” Cried Pippin. 'I hope it won’t come to that!'
'Do not speak that name so loudly!' said Strider
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
Frodo: Sam! Wood-Elves! They're going to the harbour beyond the White Towers. To the Grey Havens
Sam: They're leaving Middle-earth.
Frodo: Never to return.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
I shall have to go. But-" and here Frodo looked hard at Sam- "if you really care about me, you will have to keep that DEAD secret. See? If you don't, if you even breathe a word of what you've heard here, then I hope Gandalf will turn you into a spotted toad and fill the garden full of grass snakes."
Sam fell on his knees, trembling. "Get up, Sam!" Said Gandalf. "I have thought of something better than that. Something to keep you quiet, and punish you properly for listening. You shall go away with Mr. Frodo!"
"Me, sir!" cried Sam, springing up like a dog invited for a walk. "Me go and see Elves and all! Hooray!" he shouted, and then burst into tears.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
Frodo gave a cry, and there was, fallen upon his knees at the chasm's edge. But Gollum, dancing like a mad thing, held aloft the ring, a finger still thrust within its circle.
"Precious, precious, precious!" Gollum cried. "My Precious! O my Precious!" And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat on his prize, he stepped too far, toppled, wavered for a moment on the brink, and then with a shriek he fell. Out of the depths came his last wail precious, and he was gone.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
As I lay in prison, Sam, I tried to remember the Brandywine, and Woody End, and The Water running through the mill at Hobbiton. But I can't see them now.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Sam, clinging to Frodo's arm, collapsed on a step in the black darkness. 'Poor old Bill!' he said in a choking voice. 'Poor old Bill! Wolves and snakes! But the snakes were too much for him. I had to choose, Mr. Frodo. I had to come with you.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: someone has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Hobbits always so polite, yes! O nice hobbits! Smeagol brings them up secret ways that nobody else could find. Tired he is, thirsty he is, yes thirsty; and he guides them and he searches for paths, and they saw sneak, sneak. Very nice friends, O yes my precious, very nice."
Sam felt a little remorseful, but not yet trustful.
"Sorry," he said. "I'm sorry, but you startled me out of my sleep. And I shouldn't have been sleeping, and that made me sharp. But Mr. Frodo, he's that tired, I asked him to have a wink; and well, that's how it is. Sorry. But where HAVE you been to?"
"Sneaking," said Gollum, and the green glint did not leave his eyes.
...
"Hullo, Smeagol!" Frodo said. "Found any food? Have you had any rest?"
"No food, no rest, nothing for Smeagol," said Gollum. "He's a sneak."
"Don't take names to yourself, Smeagol," Frodo said. "It's unwise, whether they are true or false."
"Smeagol has to take what's given to him," answered Gollum. "He was given that name by kind Master Samwise, the hobbit that knows so much.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
I don't know how long we shall take to - to finish,' said Frodo. 'We were miserably delayed in the hills. But Samwise Gamgee, my dear hobbit - indeed, Sam my dearest hobbit, friend of friends - I do not think we need give thought to what comes after that. To do the job as you put it - what hope is there that we ever shall? And if we do, who knows what will come of that? If the One goes into the Fire, and we are at hand? I ask you, Sam, are we ever likely to need bread again? I think not. If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to.
”
”
Tolkien J.R.R
“
Is everything sad going to come untrue?' asks Sam[wise Gamgee]. Here we find, beyond all imagination, the deepest source of hope for the human story. For when the King is revealed, 'there will be no more night.' The Shadow will finally and forever be lifted from the earth. The Great War will be won.
This King, who brings strength and healing in His hands, will make everything sad come untrue.
”
”
Joseph Loconte (A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18)
“
All this last day Frodo had not spoken, but had walked half-bowed, often stumbling, as if his eyes no longer saw the way before his feet. Sam guessed that among all their pains he bore the worst, the growing weight of the Ring, a burden on the body and a torment to his mind. Anxiously Sam had noted how his master's left hand would often be raised as if to ward off a blow, or to screen his shrinking eyes from a dreadful Eye that sought to look in them. And sometimes his right hand would creep to his breast, clutching, and then slowly, as the will recovered mastery, it would be withdrawn.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Era a primeira vez que Sam via uma passagem de um combate de Homens contra Homens, e não lhe tinha agradado muito. Sentiu-se grato por não poder ver o rosto do morto. Perguntou a si mesmo como se chamaria o homem e donde teria vindo, se era realmente mau por natureza ou que mentiras e ameaças o tinham levado a percorrer o longo caminho da sua casa até ali, e se não teria, na realidade, preferido continuar lá em paz.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
In western lands beneath the Sun
the flowers may rise in Spring,
the trees may bud, the waters run,
the merry finches sing.
Or there maybe 'tis cloudless night
and swaying beeches bear
the Elven-stars as jewels white
amid their branching hair.
Though here at journey's end I lie
in darkness buried deep,
beyond all towers strong and high,
beyond all mountains steep,
above all shadows rides the Sun
and Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
nor bid the Stars farewell.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
His thought turned to the Ring, but there was no comfort there, only dread and danger. No sooner had he come in sight of Mount Doom, burning far away, than he was aware of a change in his burden. As it drew near the great furnaces where, in the deeps of time, it had been shaped and forged, the Ring's power grew, and it became more fell, untameable except by some mighty will. As Sam stood there, even though the Ring was not on him but hanging by its chain about his neck, he felt himself enlarged, as if he were robed in a huge distorted shadow of himself, a vast and ominous threat halted upon the walls of Mordor. He felt that he had from now on only two choices: to forbear the Ring, though it would torment him; or to claim it, and challenge the Power that sat in its dark hold beyond the valley of shadows. Already the Ring tempted him, gnawing at his will and reason. Wild fantasies arose in his mind; and he saw Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call as he marched to the overthrow of Barad-dur. And then all the clouds rolled away, and the white sun shone, and at his command the vale of Gorgoroth became a garden of flowers and trees and brought forth fruit. He had only to put on the Ring and claim it for his own, and all this could be. In that hour of trial it was his love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command. 'And anyway all these notions are only a trick, he said to himself.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Your land must be a realm of peace and content, and there must gardeners be in high honour.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
At last they rode over the downs and took the East Road, and then Merry and Pippin rode on to Buckland and already they were singing again as they went. But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap. He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Sam turned quickly.
'And you, Ferny,' he said, 'put your ugly face out of sight, or it will get hurt.' With a sudden flick, quick as lightning, an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked too late, and curses came from behind the hedge.
'Waste of a good apple,' said Sam regretfully, and strode on.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1))
“
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. His song in the Tower had been defiance rather than hope; for then he was thinking of himself. Now, for a moment, his own fate, and even his master's, ceased to trouble him. He crawled back into the brambles and laid himself by Frodo's side, and putting away all fear he cast himself into a deep untroubled sleep.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings, #3))
“
Elves are sad; and that's what makes them so beautiful...
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
And for a moment he lifted up the Phial and looked down at his master, and the light burned gently now with the soft radiance of the evening-star in summer, and in that light Frodo's face was fair of hue again, pale but beautiful with an Elvish beauty, as of one who has long passed the shadows. And with the bitter comfort of that last sight Sam turned and hid the light and stumbled on into the growing dark.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2))
“
What is it?’ growled Sam, misinterpreting the signs. ‘What’s the need to sniff? The stink nearly knocks me down with my nose held. You stink, and master stinks; the whole place stinks.’
‘Yes, yes, and Sam stinks!’ answered Gollum. ‘Poor Sméagol smells it, but good Sméagol bears it.
”
”
J.R.R Tolkein
“
…I am a storyteller. From barstools to back porches, from kitchen tables to campfires, from podiums to park benches, I have spun my yarns to audiences both big and small, both rapt and bored. I didn’t start out that way. I was just a dreamer, quietly imagining myself as something special, as someone who would “make a difference” in the world. But the fact is, I was just an ordinary person leading an ordinary life. Then, partly by design, partly by happenstance, I was thrust into a series of adventures and circumstances beyond anything I had ever dreamed.
It all started when I ran away from home at eighteen and hitchhiked around the country. Then I joined the Army, became an infantry lieutenant, and went to Vietnam. After Vietnam, I tried to become a hippie, got involved with Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and became a National Coordinator for the organization. I was subsequently indicted for conspiracy to incite a riot at the Republican Convention in 1972—the so-called Gainesville Eight case—and one of my best friends turned out to be an FBI informant who testified against me at the trial. In the early eighties, I was involved with the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, which built a memorial for Vietnam veterans in New York City and published the book Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. In the late eighties, I was part of a delegation of Vietnam veterans who went to the Soviet Union to meet with Soviet veterans of their Afghanistan War. I fell in love with a woman from Russia, married her, and spent nine years living there, during which I fathered two children, then brought my family back to the U.S. and the suburban middle-class life I had left so many years before. The adventures ultimately, inevitably perhaps, ended, and like Samwise Gamgee, I returned to an ordinary life once they were over. The only thing I had left from that special time was the stories…
I wrote this book for two reasons. First and foremost, I wrote it for my children. Their experience of me is as a slightly boring “soccer dad,” ordinary and unremarkable. I wanted them to know who I was and what I did before I became their dad. More importantly, I hope the book can be inspiring to the entire younger generation they represent, who will have to deal with the mess of a world that we have left them. The second reason is that when I was young, I had hoped that my actions would “make a difference,” but I’m not so sure if they amounted to “a hill of beans,” as Humphry Bogart famously intoned. If my actions did not change the world, then I dream that maybe my stories can.
”
”
Peter P. Mahoney (I Was a Hero Once)
“
Frodo: “Non posso farlo, Sam.”
Sam: “Lo so. È tutto sbagliato. Noi non dovremmo nemmeno essere qui. Ma ci siamo. È come nelle grandi storie, padron Frodo. Quelle che contano davvero. Erano piene di oscurità e pericoli, e a volte non volevi sapere il finale. Perché come poteva esserci un finale allegro? Come poteva il mondo tornare com’era dopo che erano successe tante cose brutte? Ma alla fine è solo una cosa passeggera, quest’ombra. Anche l’oscurità deve passare. Arriverà un nuovo giorno. E quando il sole splenderà, sarà ancora più luminoso. Quelle erano le storie che ti restavano dentro, che significavano qualcosa, anche se eri troppo piccolo per capire il perché. Ma credo, padron Frodo, di capire, ora. Adesso so. Le persone di quelle storie avevano molte occasioni di tornare indietro e non l’hanno fatto. Andavano avanti, perché loro erano aggrappate a qualcosa.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien
“
There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
”
”
J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings.)
“
There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
”
”
Samwise Gamgee