"I should like to save the Shire, if I could - though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don't feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again."

carrying the world around his neck

"I see no hope of it now. But I've got to do the best I can."

ludenburned:

     ♣ ”There’s nothing courageous about having a soft heart in a cruel world. How naive must one be to believe such dribble? The soft are consumed, no exception.”

“Perhaps not to all, but in some places, I would think a token of kindness better and well-spent than any misdeed. It certainly will suit you better, in the end, rather than a blade at your throat. I imagine it is a philosophy from a different world.”