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.
J. R. R. TolkienIf you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrainโs son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer,โ he said crossly, โsay so at once and have done!
J. R. R. TolkienIt was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.
J. R. R. Tolkien