Wisdom from Words - Volume I

I love to read - books are like oxygen to me; truly. I can only dream that one day I can have a house that has a library to rival the one in the Beast's mansion in "Beauty and the Beast". Seriously people, that library is legit! The way books smell is absolute heaven; fresh ink on perfectly crisp pages, I can honestly tell you sometimes I just hold a new book close and take a deep breath.

I mean - I wanted the Prince too...but that library - be still my heart.

In the spirit of the thousands of books I've read since I started reading around the age of four (yes, four - ask my Mom and she will vouch for me) I thought I'd share some of my favorite quotes/lines from all those books I've spent hours of my life consuming. I soon realized that since I read so much, I'd never narrow it down and you'd be reading this for hours...so I just decided that from time to time, I'd post a series of ten quotes/lines from a select author. I'll start with one of the master of literature - J.R.R. Tolkien; writer of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the Silmarillion, to name a few. Onward....

Top Ten Words of Wisdom from Tolkien

1) All that is gold does not glitter,

    Not all those who wonder are lost;

    The old that is strong does not wither, 

    Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

   From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

   A light from the darkness shall spring;

   Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

   The crownless again shall be King.

   - The Fellowship of the Ring

2) "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." - Bilbo Baggins

   - The Fellowship of the Ring

3) There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for.

- The Two Towers

4) "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." - Gandalf

- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

5) All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

- The Fellowship of the Ring

6) It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.

- The Hobbit

7) "The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in, but you cannot forever fence it out." - Gandalf

- The Fellowship of the Ring

8) "I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone." - Arwen

- The Return of the King

9) Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.

- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

10) One Ring to rule them all, 

      One Ring to find them;

      One Ring to bring them all

      And in the darkness bind them.

- The Fellowship of the Ring

Thank you Mr. Tolkien for a fantasy world that is the most brilliant escape. Absolutely incredible.

So there you have it - my ten favorite quotes/lines written by the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien. They just don't make writers like Tolkien anymore and if you've never read any of his books, you should really get on that because they are delightful. Having said that, if you aren't a huge reader I'd suggest you start with The Hobbit - since jumping straight in with The Lord of the Rings trilogy might be daunting - that's a big ol book y'all! Also, The Hobbit actually takes place before the Lord of the Rings, so that helps too! Go get on it...read yourself a good book...or maybe just take a deep breath and smell those wonderful booky smells!

And as I close - please just look at the picture below. I mean, hello fabulous...where can I get this house?

In conclusion - someone built the library in real life. Hello heaven!