Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.
– J. R. R. Tolkien
Context
The quote is from J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy book “The Two Towers“, the second book in the trilogy in the Lord of the Rings.
When Frodo notices that Gollum was following them, he became angry and wished death upon him. Gandalf noticed this and gave this reply to him.
Meaning
One should be slow to judge others or yourself. Things happen, good and bad, right and wrong. We can’t always say why things happen as they do, but they do. Life and existence means innumerable processes taking place simultaneously. Our minds and thoughts are but one of these processes. This is why one should be slow to judge, because there are so many factors beyond our capacity to recognize, know or even fathom.
This is one of my favorite quotes from Tolkien, and he has many great lines that will inspire and enwisen you.
What do you think?
Daniel Seeker is a wandering dervish and lifelong student of the past, present and future. He realized that he was made of immaculate and timeless consciousness when meditating in his hermit cave on the island of Gotland. His writings are mostly a reflection of that realizaton. Daniel currently studies history, philosophy, egyptology and western esotericism at Uppsala Universitet. He’s also currently writing his B.A. thesis in history which explores how Buddhist and Hindu texts were first properly translated and introduced to the western world in the late 18th and 19th century.
Beautiful writing by Tolkien