"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost"
--J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens,"
--Gimli, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"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."
--Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"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, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"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 — 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."
--Samwise Gamgee, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"Aragorn: 'What do you fear, lady?'
Eowyn: 'A cage, To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.' "
--Aragorn & Eowyn, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so the rightful king shall be known."
-- , J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"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!"
--Aragorn, Film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings
"It is useless to meet revenge with revenge: it will heal nothing."
--Frodo, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil."
--Gandalf, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord Of The Rings
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel O Elbereth Starkindler,
o menel palan-díriel, from heaven gazing afar,
le nallon sí di'nguruthos! to thee I cry here beneath the shadow of death!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos! O look towards me, Everwhite!"
--J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”
--Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon
Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
--Robert J. Hanlon
"...it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government, and consequently those which ought to shape its Administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none..."
--Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, 4 March 1801