To try and encompass the whole entirety of Lord of the Rings in a mere 200 words would be nothing short of impossible, if not quite a blasphemy. So, that’s what we are not going to try to do. But, in our humble opinion, such a case usually speaks the best for itself, so we’ve decided to let these Lord of the Rings quotes do the job for us. Nothing better than the real thing, eh? And yup, here we are, with our LOTR quotes list that speaks volumes of the books’ ingenuity, the writer’s wisdom, and its undying glory.
J. R. R. Tolkien touches many interesting topics in these incredible books, and each of the Lord Of The Rings characters carry their own ideas with them throughout the story. It is truly wonderful to see their character arcs develop while their foundational beliefs remain the same. In some instances, they fade away; in others - they bloom to full glory, and these incremental changes give us, the readers, some truly wise words to read upon. You know, of all the book quotes articles we have done, these Lord Of The Rings ones might just be the most powerful and everlasting. Of course, you’re free to disagree, but we bet that you already know quite a few of these famous quotes, whether you’re a fan or not.
So, in true hobbit fashion, grab yourself a second breakfast to devour while reading these moving quotes - this way, the effect is bound to double up on you. Then, once the snacking is done and the phrases have been read through, give the best quotes your vote and share this article with your friends.
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“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.” - Gandalf
"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to." — Gandalf
"End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take." - Gandalf
"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." - Bilbo Baggins
“I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” – Arwen
"[referring to the Ring] We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little Hobbitses. Wicked. Tricksy. False!" - Gollum
“Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” - Bilbo Baggins
“I thought up an ending for my book: ‘And he lived happily ever after, unto the end of his days.'” — Bilbo Baggins
“It is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of Men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one.” – Gandalf
“Such 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.” - Elrond
“It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.” - Gendalf
“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo… and it’s worth fighting for.” — Sam Gangee
"How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on when in your heart you begin to understand there is no going back? There are some things that time cannot mend, some hurts that go too deep that have taken hold." - Frodo Baggins
“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace!” – Gandalf
“Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them.” - Galadriel
Gimli: "[not being able to see over the wall] What’s happening out there?"
Legolas: "Shall I describe it to you? Or would you like me to find you a box?"
Their friendship was so fun to see, even when they kept score in battles. Best of all: " Don't tell the Elf"
“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” – Thorin Oakenshield
“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.” - Frodo Baggins
“May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” - Frodo Baggins
“There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.” - Aragorn
"I can avoid being seen, if I wish, but to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift." — Aragorn
"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." — Samwise Gamgee
“Snow’s all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed when it’s falling.” - Samwise Gamgee
“I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to.” - Gandalf
“Oft in lies truth is hidden.” - Glorfindel
“The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the company is true.” – Galadriel
“This day does not belong to one man but to all. Let us together rebuild this world that we may share in the days of peace.” – Aragorn
“Evil will be drawn to you from outside the fellowship. And, I fear, from within you must trust yourself. Trust your own strengths.” – Gandalf
"'I am old, Gandalf. I don’t look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed!' he snorted. '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.'" – Bilbo Baggins
“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
“Few other griefs amid the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man’s heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned.” – Aragorn
“But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.” — Sam Gamgee
“It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing… such a little thing.”— Boromir
"Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountains. Like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into Shadow. How did it come to this?" - Theoden
Except in the book Aragorn says it, and for literally no reason. One of the ways the films improved matters.
Gimli: "Never thought I’d die fighting side by side with an Elf."
Legolas: "What about side by side with a friend?"
Gimli: "Aye. I could do that."
“Smeagol promises to Precious, promises faithfully. Never come again, never speak, no never!” - Gollum
“And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.” - Éowyn
“His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.” - Aragorn
“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 Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.” – Gandalf
“Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.” - Gildor
"A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a short cut to meet it." - Sador
“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.” - Haldir
“The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out.” - Gildor
“Hill. Yes, that was it. But it is a hasty word for a thing that has stood here ever since this part of the world was shaped.” - Treebeard
“Let them march now and sing! We have a long way to go, and there is time ahead for thought. It is something to have started.” - Treebeard
"Do not be so quick to deal out death and judgment. Even the very wise do not see all ends." — Gandalf
"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." - J.R.R. Tolkien
"He is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place. That we should wish to cast him down and have no one in his place is not a thought that occurs to his mind. That we should try to destroy the Ring itself has not yet entered into his darkest dream." - Gandalf
“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.” - Gandalf
“But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.” – Celeborn
“Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. Naked I was sent back – for a brief time, until my task is done. ” – Gandalf
“To me it would not seem that a Steward who faithfully surrenders his charge is diminished in love or in honour.” – Gandalf
“Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” – Elrond
“Many of the Ents are younger than I am, by many lives of trees. They are all roused now, and their mind is all on one thing: breaking Isengard. But they will start thinking again before long; they will cool down a little . . . But let them march now and sing! We have a long way to go, and there is time ahead for thought. It is something to have started.” - Treebeard
“Yet do not cast all hope away. Tomorrow is unkown. Rede oft is found at the rising of the Sun.” - Legolas
“Indeed I have not seen them roused like this for many an age. We Ents do not like being roused; and we never are roused unless it is clear to us that our trees and our lives are in great danger.” - Treebeard
“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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien
"The old world will burn in the fires of industry. The forests will fall. A new order will rise." — Saruman
Aragorn: “Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall.”
Pippin: “What about breakfast?”
Aragorn: “Haven’t you had that already?”
Pippin: “We’ve had one, yes. What about second breakfast?”
“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.” — Merry Brandybuck
“Sam is an excellent fellow, and would jump down a dragon’s throat to save you, if he did not trip over his own feet.” — Pippin
"It is a comfort not to be mistaken at all points. Do I not know it only too well!" - Gandalf
“Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him.” – Haldir
″‘Not this way, master!’ he pleaded. ‘There is another way. O yes indeed there is. Another way, darker, more difficult to find, more secret. But Sméagol knows it. Let Sméagol show you!‘” – Gollum
“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.” - Faramir
“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.” - Frodo Baggins
"My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" - Smaug
"It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals, alas, have happened before." - Elrond
"[to his army] Hold your ground! Hold your ground. Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of Men comes crashing down. But it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" - Aragorn
“We must take a hard road, a road unforeseen. There lies our hope, if hope it be. To walk into peril – to Mordor. We must send the Ring to the Fire.” — Elrond
“You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.” — Galadriel
″‘Stew the rabbits!’ squealed Gollum in dismay. ‘Spoil beautiful meat Smeagol saved for you, poor hungry Smeagol!‘” - Gollum
"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone." - Gandalf
"I kill where I wish and none dare resist. I laid low the warriors of old and their like is not in the world today. Then I was but young and tender. Now I am old and strong, strong strong." - Smaug
“You must understand young hobbit, takes a long time to say anything in Old Entish. And we never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say.” - Treebeard
“A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night.” - Legolas
"Fell deeds awake! Now for wrath. Now for ruin...and a red dawn." - Theoden (film version)
“Together, my lord Sauron, we shall rule this Middle-earth. The old world will burn in the fires of industry. Forests will fall. A new order will rise. We will drive the machine of war with the sword and the spear and the iron fist of the orc.” -Saruman