The internet is full of LOTR quotes. The Goodreads website has a gillion of them. And certainly everyone has his or hers favorite(s). Here’s just a small sampling of them:

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“It’s the job that’s never started as takes longest to finish.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“PIPPIN: I didn’t think it would end this way.

GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.

PIPPIN: What? Gandalf? See what?

GANDALF: White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.

PIPPIN: Well, that isn’t so bad.

GANDALF: No. No, it isn’t.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“I want to be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“All’s well that ends better.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“I am old, Gandalf. I don’t look it, but I am beginning to feel it in my heart of hearts. Well-preserved indeed! Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread. That can’t be right. I need a change, or something.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have One, mightier than they: the White Rider. He has passed through the fire and the abyss, and they shall fear him. We will go where he leads.”
― J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

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It would be arrogant of me to place mine above all the rest. So I will rephrase the lede to say this lament by Gimli the Dwarf resonated most with me:

“Tell me, Legolas, why did I come on this Quest? Little did I know where the chief peril lay! Truly Elrond spoke, saying that we could not foresee what we might meet upon our road. Torment in the dark was the danger that I feared, and it did not hold me back. But I would have never come, had I known the danger of light and joy. Now I have taken my worst wound in this parting, even if I were to go this night straight to the Dark Lord. Alas for Gimli son of Glóin!” Gimli – Farewell to Lórien – The Fellowship of the Ring

From Wordworth to Lewis we are all surprised by joy; and joy is always connected with love. We are surprised by the sudden joy of discovering one of the great, mysterious profundities of life: a musical instrument expertly played or a flawless musical piece that captures the soul, a new friend, a book, a new food, a first love, a thing or person of great beauty; beguiling, compelling and wonderful – such as a sunrise over a vast canyon or a sunset on a beach by the ocean or the girl next door you grew up with suddenly become a young woman.

But always, over time, we eventually come to the sad realization that all the joys of earth are fleeting, fading and temporary. Some people kill themselves, or sedate themselves or lash out in anger. Others lapse into depression or melancholy. Others finally realize our lasting joy lies elsewhere. In Mere Christianity, Lewis would later reflect, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” 

C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, John Piper, Daniel Fuller and others have echoed this thought. True, lasting contentment and joy are found only in God. Gimli has tasted a little bit of heaven, of unconditional love and acceptance, of holiness, of light and joy – and he would give all the treasures of earth to keep it.

Augustine, in his Confessions, famously wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you”. This quote highlights the idea that humans are created with a specific need for God that cannot be fulfilled by anything else. 

This “God-shaped hole” represents an inherent longing or emptiness in the human heart. It’s the feeling that something is missing, no matter how much worldly success, pleasure, or possessions are acquired. 

Or more recently: Morpheus: “It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you to the truth. That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.”

““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matt 13:44

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psa 16:11

“For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Psa 84:10

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

It is for surpassing joy and eternal happiness in the very presence of God our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend (O Worship the King – Robert Grant 1833) that we press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14)