The Tolkien Quote Database
Quotes by and about Gandalf
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
"Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the sea comes the end of our fellowship in middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep for not all tears are an evil."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Grey Havens, The Return of the King
"'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo.
'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and 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 us.'"
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Shadow of the Past, The Fellowship of the Ring
"I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, An Unexpected Party, The Hobbit
Gandalf was shorter in stature than the other two; but his long white hair, his sweeping silver beard, and his broad shoulders, made him look like some wise king of ancient legend. In his aged face under great snowy brows his eyes were set like coals that could suddenly burst into fire.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Many Meetings, The Fellowship of the Ring
Deserves it! I daresay he does. 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. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it. And he is bound up with the fate of the Ring. My heart tells me that he has some part to play yet, for good or ill, before the end; and when that comes, the pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many – yours not least.
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Shadow of the Past, The Fellowship of the Ring
"You cannot pass," he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, The Fellowship of the Ring
"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."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Last Debate, The Return of the King
"Many are the strange chances of the world,’ said Mithrandir, ‘and help oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter."
Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien (Christopher Tolkien ed.), Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age, The Silmarillion