"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."

<sup>Soldier On - The Temper Trap
And if not, someday somehow
Are these hands a waste
Well this side of mortality is
Scaring me to death
To death

Don’t think about it at all
Just keep your head low
And don’t think about it all

Soldier on, soldier on 
Keep your heart close to the ground</sup>