Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

J. B. S. Haldane, fully John Burdon Sanderson Haldane

Capitalism, though it may not always give the scientific worker a living wage, will always protect him, as being one of the geese which produce golden eggs for its table.

Beginning | Loneliness | Lying | People | Time | Work |

J. B. S. Haldane, fully John Burdon Sanderson Haldane

We cannot separate the phenomena of life from those of its environment.

People |

Ivan Krastev

Transparency is not about restoring trust in institutions; transparency is politics' management of mistrust.

Cult | Language | Myth | Paradise | People | Reality | Religion | Sense | Story | World |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

A small oversight, but it proved fatal. Small oversights often do.

Dreams | Goals | Hate | Love | Need | Pain | People | Regret | Forgive | Learn |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

After some while Bilbo became impatient. Well, what is it? he said. The answer's not a kettle boiling over, as you seem to think by the noise you are making.

Gold | Journey | Right | Spirit | Thought | Wants | World | Wrong | Thought |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Arise, arise, Riders of Th‚oden! Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter! spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered, a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!

Business | People | Sense | Slavery | Business | Old |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

But it does not seem that I can trust anyone, said Frodo. Sam looked at him unhappily. It all depends on what you want, put in Merry. You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.

Destroy | Land | Life | Life | Nature | Order | People | Slavery |

Italian Proverbs

Wisdom acquired by experience is basically only very bitterly acquired.

Compassion | Important | People | Religion |

Italian Proverbs

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.

Age | Important | Mistake | Myth | Question | Regard | Science |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

And long there he lay, an image of the splendor of the Kings of Men in glory undimmed before the breaking of the world.

Care | Nothing | People | Question | Right | Slavery |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

And thus it came to pass that the Silmarils found their long homes: one in the airs of heaven, and one in the fires of the heart of the world, and one in the deep waters.

Debt | Labor | People | Security | Slavery | Time | World |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Aragorn threw back his cloak. The elven-sheath glittered as he grasped it, and the bright blade of And£ril shone like a sudden flame as he swept it out. 'Elendil!' he cried. 'I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, D£nadan, the heir of Isildur Elendil's son of Gondor. Here is the Sword that was Broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!

Control | Enough | Improvement | Labor | Money | People | Reason | Responsibility | Slavery | Child | Think |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes? Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise.

Ability | Better | People | Position | Space | World | Think | Understand |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

If you mean you think it is my job to go into the secret passage first, O Thorin Thrain?s son Oakenshield, may your beard grow ever longer, he said crossly, say so at once and have done!

Man |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Is there no escape then?' said Frodo, looking around wildly. 'If I move I shall be seen and hunted! If I stay, I shall draw them to me!

Wants |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Haldir had gone on and was now climbing to the high flet. As Frodo prepared to follow him, he laid his hand upon the tree beside the ladder: never before had he been so suddenly and so keenly aware of the feel and texture of a tree's skin and of the life within it. He felt a delight in wood and the touch of it, neither as forester nor as carpenter; it was the delight of the living tree itself.

People | Wrong |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

It is said that the skill of the Dwarves is in their hands rather than in their tongues, yet that is not true of Gimli. For none have ever made to me a request so bold and yet so courteous...I do not foretell, for all foretelling is now vain: on the one hand lies darkness, and on the other only hope. But if hope should not fail, then I say to you, Gimli son of Gl¢in, that your hands shall flow with gold, and yet over you gold shall have no dominion.

People |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

I wonder if people will ever say, Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring. And they'll say, Yes, that's one of my favorite stories. Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he, Dad? Yes, m'boy, the most famousest of hobbits. And that's saying a lot.

Man |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things.

Life | Life | Technology | Wants |

J. R. R. Tolkien, fully John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

FRODO: 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.

Age | Wants |