52 Inspiring Lord Of The Rings Quotes

The world of Middle-earth, crafted by the inimitable J.R.R. Tolkien, has captured the imaginations of readers for decades. "The Lord of the Rings," a high-fantasy epic, is filled with profound wisdom, stirring courage, and timeless reflections on the human experience. Within its pages, a myriad of quotes shine brightly, offering inspiration and insight into the struggles and triumphs faced by its memorable characters. As you embark on this journey through our curated collection of the top 52 inspiring quotes from this legendary series, prepare to be transported into a realm where every phrase is as enchanting as the world it depicts. Whether you're a seasoned fan revisiting old friends or a newcomer eager to explore these gems for the first time, each quote promises to resonate with the heart and soul, leaving an indelible mark on your own quest through life.

1. “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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

2. “How shall a man judge what to do in such times?''As he has ever judged,' said Aragorn. 'Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

3. “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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

4. “¡Es que no soy ningun hombre viviente! Lo que tus ojos ven es una mujer. Soy Éowyn hija de Eomund. Pretendes impedir que me acerque a mi señor y pariente. ¡Vete de aqui si no eres una criatura inmortal! Porque vivo o espectro oscuro, te traspasare con mi espada si lo tocas!” - J.R.R. Tolkien

5. “Elven Hymn to ElberethSnow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!O Queen beyond the Western Seas!O Light to us that wander hereAmid the world of woven trees!Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!Clear are thy eyes and bright thy breath!Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to theeIn a far land beyond the Sea.O stars that in the Sunless YearWith shining hand by her were sown,In windy fields now bright and clearWe see your silver blossom blown!O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!We still remember, we who dwellIn this far land beneath the trees,Thy starlight on the Western Seas.A Elbereth Gilthoniel,silivren penna mírielo menel aglar elenath!Na-chaered palan-dírielo galadhremmin ennorath,Fanuilos, le linnathonnef aear, si nef aearon!A Elbereth Gilthoniel!o menel palan-dírielle nallon sí di'nguruthos!A tiro nin, Fanuilos!A! Elbereth Gilthoniel!silivren penna mírielo menel aglar elenath!We still remember, we who dwellIn this far land beneath the trees,Thy starlight on the Western Seas.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

6. “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

7. “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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

8. “There was a deep silence, only scraped on its surfaces by the faint quiver of empty seed-plumes, and broken grass-blades trembling in small air-movements they could not feel.'Not a bird!' said Sam mournfully.'No, no birds,' said Gollum. 'Nice birds!' He licked his teeth. 'No birds here. There are snakeses, wormses, things in the pools. Lots of things, lots of nasty things. No birds,' he ended sadly. Sam looked at him with distaste.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

9. “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.” - Peter Jackson

10. “But I am the real Strider, fortunately. I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

11. “Yet seldom do they fail of their seed, And that will lie in the dust and rot to spring up again in times and places unlooked-for. The deeds of Men will outlast us.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

12. “There are older and fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

13. “Nobody believes me when I say that my long book is an attempt to create a world in which a form of language agreeable to my personal aesthetic might seem real. But it is true.” - J. R. R. Tolkien

14. “I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

15. “And then her heart changed, or at least she understood it; and the winter passed, and the sun shone upon her.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

16. “Speak, or I will put a dint in your hat that even a wizard will find hard to deal with!” - J.R.R. Tolkien

17. “Evidently we look so much alike that your desire to make an incurable dent in my hat must be excused.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

18. “His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

19. “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s 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]” - John Rogers

20. “But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund'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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

21. “Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Eldar Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

22. “If there are any to see I at least am revealed to them. I have written Gandalf is here in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

23. “The two things that came out clearly were the sense of reality in the background and the mythical value: the essence of myth being that it should have no taint of allegory to the maker and yet should suggest incipient allegories to the reader.[C.S. Lewis writes to J.R.R. Tolkien on December 7, 1929]” - C.S. Lewis

24. “...the landscape inside Lord of the Rings was so stunning and so stupendous that it could be absorbed as a form of nourishment.” - Jasper Fforde

25. “Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

26. “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.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

27. “Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

28. “For Isildur would not surrender it to Elrond and Círdan who stood by. They counselled him to cast it into the fire of Orodruin night at hand... But Isildur refused this counsel, saying: 'This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's. Was it not I that dealt the Enemy his death-blow?' And the Ring that he held seemed to him exceedingly fair to look on; and he would not suffer it to be destroyed.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

29. “His head was swimming, and he was far from certain even of the direction they had been going in when he had his fall. He guessed as well as he could, and crawled along for a good way, till suddenly his hand met what felt like a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. It was a turning point in his career, but he did not know it. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking; certainly it did not seem of any particular use at the moment.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

30. “I am the foremost collector of velvet Elvii in the city of Chicago," I said at once. "Elvii?" Marcone inquired."The plural would be Elvises, I guess," I said. "But if I say that too often, I start muttering to myself and calling things 'my precious,' so I usually go with the Latin plural.” - Jim Butcher

31. “He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

32. “I would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a bit higher off the ground.” - Eomer

33. “You would die before your stroke fell!” - Legolas

34. “The road goes ever on and on” - J.R.R. Tolkien

35. “Human stories are practically always about one thing, really, aren't they? Death. The inevitability of death. . .. . . (quoting an obituary) 'There is no such thing as a natural death. Nothing that ever happens to man is natural, since his presence calls the whole world into question. All men must die, but for every man his death is an accident, and even if he knows it he would sense to it an unjustifiable violation.' Well, you may agree with the words or not, but those are the key spring of The Lord Of The Rings” - J.R.R. Tolkien

36. “And there's no sex, hardly any love stuff at all, in Middle Earth, which always made me think, yes, the world would be better off without it.” - Jo Walton

37. “It is not possible even at great length to “pot” The Lord of the Rings in a paragraph or two … It was begun in 1937, and every part has been written many times. Hardly a word in its 600,000 or more has been unconsidered. And the placing, size, style, and contribution to the whole of the features, incidents, and chapters has been laboriously pondered. I do not say this in recommendation. It is, I feel, only too likely that I am deluded, lost in a web of vain imaginings of not much value to others – in spite of the fact that a few readers have found it good, on the whole. What I intend to say is this: I cannot substantially alter the thing. I have finished it, is “off my mind”: the labour has been colossal: and it must stand or fall, practically as it is. [1951]” - J.R.R. Tolkien

38. “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

39. “Curse us and crush us, my precious is lost!” - J.R.R. Tolkien

40. “I’m reminded of a book my father used to read me,” she said. “A bunch of elves and things get into a huge war over a piece of jewelry that everybody wants but nobody can wear.” - Lemony Snicket

41. “Motherfuckers will read a book that’s one third Elvish, but put two sentences in Spanish and they [white people] think we’re taking over.” - Junot Diaz

42. “You could fire a machine gun randomly through the pages of Lord of the Rings and never hit any women.” - Neil Gaiman

43. “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

44. “There is darkness there that never sleeps.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

45. “It is mine to give to whom I will, like my heart.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

46. “Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would not have come, had I known the danger of light and joy.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

47. “And what do you wish?' he said at last.'That what should be shall be,' she answered.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

48. “J.R.R.Tolkien has confessed that about a third of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring, some ruffian named Strider confronted the hobbits in an inn, and Tolkien was in despair. He didn't know who Strider was, where the book was going, or what to write next. Strider turns out to be no lesser person than Aragorn, the unrecognized and uncrowned king of all the forces of good, whose restoration to rule is, along with the destruction of the evil ring, the engine that moves the plot of the whole massive trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.” - Ansen Dibell

49. “Let him go, you filth! Let him go! You will not touch him again!” - J.R.R. Tolkien

50. “Ceux qui errent ne sont pas toujours perdus.” - Tolkien

51. “Gandalf and Pippin came to Merry's room, and there they found Aragorn standing by the bed. 'Poor old Merry!' cried Pippin, and he ran to the bedside, for it seemed to him that his friend looked worse and a greyness in his face, as if a weight of years and sorrow lay upon him; and suddenly a fear seized Pippin that Merry would die. 'Do not be afraid,' Aragorn said, 'I came in time, and I have called him back. He is weary now, and grieved, and he has taken a hurt like the lady Eowyn, daring to smite that deadly thing. But these evils can be amended, so strong and gay a spirit is in him. His grief he will not forget; but it will not darken his heart, it will teach him wisdom.' Then Aragorn laid his hand on Merry's head, and passing his hand gently through the brown curls , he touched the eyelids, and called him by name. And when the fragrance of athelas stole through the room, like the scent of orchards, and of heather in the sunshine full of bees, suddenly Merry awoke, and he said: 'I am hungry. What is the time?' 'Past supper-time now,' said Pippin; 'though I daresay I could bring you something, if they will let me.' 'They will indeed," said Gandalf, . 'And anything else that this Rider of Rohan may desire, if it can be found in Minas Tirith, where his name is in honour." 'Good!' said Merry. 'Then I would like supper first, and after that a pipe.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

52. “And as the captains gazed south to the Land of Mordor, it seemed to them that, black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell.” - J.R.R. Tolkien