The Hobbit is a book by J.R.R. Tolkien, a famous Oxford professor, essayist and writer. The story centers around Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who is caught up in a grand adventure. Here are a few quotes from The Hobbit. Which quote is your favorite?
- "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."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "I should think so - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "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, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses, time required and remuneration, and so forth" - by which he meant: What am I going to get out of it? and am I going to come back alive."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "Chip the glasses and crack the plates! / Blunt the knives and bend the forks! / That's what Bilbo Baggins hates."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "Trolls are slow in the uptake, and mighty suspicious about anything new to them."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 2
- "There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 4
- "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, The Hobbit, Ch. 5
- "Some sang too that Thror and Thrain would come back one day and gold would flow in rivers, through the mountain-gates, and all that land would be filled with new song and new laughter. But this pleasant legend did not much affect their daily business."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 10
- "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. Dragons may not have much real use for all their wealth, but they know it to an ounce as a rule, especially after long possession; and Smaug was no exception."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 12
- "To say that Bilbo's breath was taken away is no description at all. There are no words left to express his staggerment, since Men changed the language that they learned of elves in the days when all the world was wonderful."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led. And through the air. I am he that walks unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. I was chosen for the lucky number. I am he that buries his friends alive and drowns them and draws them alive again from the water. I came from the end of bag, but no bag went over me. I am the friend of bears and the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luckwearer; and I am Barrel-rider."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "'Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!' he said to himself, and it became a favorite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 1
- "The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which they had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is wakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 13
- "The king is come unto his hall / Under the Mountain dark and tall. / The Worm of Dread is slain and dead, / And ever so our foes shall fall!"
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 15
- "Victory after all, I suppose! Well, it seems a very gloomy business."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 17
- "I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 17
- "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. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!"
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 17
- "As all things come to an end, even this story, a day came at last when they were in sight of the country where Bilbo had been born and bred, where the shapes of the land and of the trees were as well known to him as his hands and toes."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 19
- "He took to writing poetry and visiting the elves; and though many shook their heads and touched their foreheads and said "Poor old Baggins!" and though few believed any of his tales, he remained very happy to the end of his days, and those were extraordinarily long."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 19
- "And why not? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies just because you helped them come about. You don't really suppose do you that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck? Just for your sole benefit? You're a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I'm quite fond of you. But you are really just a little fellow, in a wide world after all."
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Ch. 19
