“I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses, time required and remuneration, and so forth” – by which he meant: “What am I going to get out of it? and am I going to come back alive?” — The Hobbit

My Take – Qui Bono?  If you’re coming to me and proposing something, there better be a payoff, either material or otherwise.  Calories aren’t cheap, and if you’re asking me to expend them, you really ought to be able to lay out not only what you want, but also what you expect will be in it for those who take part in your little endeavor.  Maybe I’ll just get a good feeling in my gut from it, and that’s OK, but don’t tell me there are riches beyond my wildest dreams when I’ll be lucky to get out of it with all my teeth.

And if you’re telling me I’m not doing my part, you better be able to show me what I’m getting for the effort or expenditure.

‘What do you fear, lady?’ he [Aragorn] asked.  A cage,’ she [Eowyn] said. ‘To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.’ — The Return of the King

My Take – Eowyn expressed in very few words exactly what those of us who oppose the nanny state feel.  It is so seductive to stop worrying, to let it all go, and let someone else do the hard work.  The cage of dependency is indeed gilded, and its cushions are soft. But it is still a cage.  Every time we compromise and let that cage door swing closed just a tad more, we get used to it just a tad more.  Every step back will require two steps forward just to get back to where we start:  The first will be convincing ourselves and others that it is indeed necessary to repair the damage, and the second will be to actually regain ground.

We promises, yes I promise!’ said Gollum. ‘I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Sméagol, gollum, gollum! — The Two Towers

My Take – Smeagol was an addict.  He was addicted to the safety and good feelings that the ring gave him in an unsafe world.  Rather than accept that the world was an unsafe place and live his life accordingly, he used the ring to give him a false sense of security and well-being.  He left the world of sunlight and fresh air to live at the bottom of a cavern to live in darkness rather than give it up.

In the same vein, our society is addicted to the security of “we’ll pay for it later”.  Whether it’s a college student putting herself hopelessly into debt to get that degree that she so desperately wants, or if it’s our federal government putting the grandkids into debt to pay for that just one more thing that we can’t live without, it doesn’t matter.  Our inability to not only live within our means, but also to have no real understanding of how deeply we are digging ourselves, is driving us to the edge of a cliff.

Eventually, Smeagol’s addiction to the ring destroyed him.  So too will our addiction to debt destroy us.  Someday the bills will come due.  Someday the pushers of easy money will cut us off.  When that day comes, we will learn what the term “rock bottom” means, because we will have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out how we’re going to feed ourselves, secure the peace, and defend the country when the magic well of money has run dry.

I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by‘arisch’. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. … But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. … I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride. — Draft letter answering questions about his ancestry made by his German publishers.

My Take – Sometimes, a well worded “Go screw yourself” is all you need.  Tolkien was being asked how true to the Aryan ideal he was, and if he was at all Jewish.  He replied that he was neither, but the fact that he was even asked made him regret being German.  Purity tests only show the insecurities and stupidity of those administering them, especially when it comes to something those being tested are born with.

It had always been a notion of his that the kindness of dear Mr. Frodo was of such a high degree that it must imply a fair measure of blindness. […] Gollum in his own way, and with much more excuse as his acquaintance was much briefer, may have made a similar mistake, confusing kindness and blindness. — The Two Towers

My Take – There is a fine line between being nice and being a fool.

Few of us would begrudge the truly needy when asked for help.  The amount of voluntary charity in this country and in other free countries is amazing.  Maybe it’s religious, or cultural, or maybe hairless apes just know that the monkey they give fruit to on Monday might be the monkey they are asking for fruit on Friday.

But when charity gets taken for granted, or those to whom we give think we are unable to perceive abuses of our charity, we have to react.  Even worse is when our voluntary charity moves from being a moral obligation to being a legal obligation.

Frodo gave Gollum several chances to redeem himself.  He spared his life when Gollum first attacked him, he untethered him and trusted him to not run off, and eventually he made him an equal member of his group, even risking losing the ring and his quest to save Smeagol’s life.  Gollum repaid him by seeing his charity and kindness as weakness, and betrayed Frodo to Shelob in order to get the ring.

So too will those to whom we unwillingly donate our wages.  Programs for the poor, but able, have done nothing for them but to make them believe that they have a right to the sweat of our brows and the blood of our veins.  A large portion of our fortunes is paid to those who are physically able to work, but find an excuse not to.  Any attempts to get control of this and put them to work are met with derision and hostility.  It will be interesting to see how people react when the free money stops, and they learn that we may be kind, but we are not blind.

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. — Fellowship of the Ring

My Take – There are indeed titans in our world, but the world runs through the small contributions of ordinary folk.  Achilles would have just been another warrior without the guys who rowed his boat.  Edison would have been a tinkerer without the mechanic who made his visions reality.  Just by getting up every day and getting on with your business, you do more than a lot of people, even if it’s the same thing you do every day.  It is the small things done by those of us who do the mundane work of the world that allow the ‘great people’ to do the things that get written down in the history books and told as legends around the fire.

“Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!” he said to himself, and it became a favorite saying of his later, and passed into a proverb. — The Hobbit

My Take – Talking trash rarely pays off.  At best, you look and sound like a douche.  At worst, you either piss off someone who has been tolerating you instead of beating you like a rented mule or inspiring someone you thought you’d  already dealt with to come back for another round.  Also, real talent doesn’t need to talk smack.

It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule. — The Return of the King

My Take – I cannot and will not always be there for my children.  The best I can do for them is shield them from the world as best I can while they grow, but lift that shield when it is appropriate so that they may mature.  If I send them out into the world able to stand on their own feet, provide for them and theirs, and spit in the eye of anyone who dares challenge them, then I will have done my job.

‘The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,’ said Aragorn. ‘There are some things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark.’ — The Two Towers

My Take – There are no promises in life.  Life does not care if you live or die, feast or starve, wither or thrive.  Those who succeed are those who choose to act, even knowing how badly the odds are stacked against them.  Successful businesses aren’t started by the cautious.  Successful free people aren’t sustained by playing it safe.