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4 Life Lessons from The Fellowship of The Ring

I’ve been immersed in the LOTR world lately. I tried to read the books before but these “people” of Middle Earth just wouldn’t stop walking. However, since I want to improve my craft as a writer, I figured I had to trudge through the series if I were to learn anything about worldbuilding. This time I actually enjoyed it…even though they still walked a lot.
There are many golden gems about life to be collected from the story, so hoping you’ll find inspiration in those;

1. “One does not simply walk into Mordor.”

This of course is my favorite line because of all the memes that came after it; my favorite meme being the one that says, “One Does Not Simply Eat Mansaf With a Spoon” {Which I can’t find anymore so here’s my second best…}

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But this quote reminds me that the things worth pursuing in life are not simple; whether it’s love or success or peace of mind…Everything requires work, everything requires moving out of your comfort zone, which segues nicely to the next quote…

2. “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.”

When you’re children, parents ingrain in you the concept of always selecting the 3S’s of life (secure, safe and stable). That’s why kids go to school, study medicine and engineering, get government jobs when they can…but the thing is, there’s the pernicious danger of wrapping you in a false of security, so if the termination comes or the failure to secure another job comes, you don’t know what to do with yourself. This is not to encourage the taking of rash decisions and uncalculated risks, but to learn that life will always come with a certain degree of uncertainty and that’s okay.

3. “All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.”

If you live in today’s social-media-frenzied world you’ll learn that the Joneses are not the only ones you should keep up with; there’s the Kardashians, and any average Joe with a Facebook account. Societies that were already imbued in materialism have become worse as you learn to measure your self-worth by your net worth. But just because you don’t glitter doesn’t mean you’re not gold; your inner character defines you more than your outer characteristics. The second line encourages you to collect moments, not mementos; to value experiences over material objects.
When they entered the mines, and Gandalf had to make a choice on which way to take, but he said, “I am too weary to decide. We had better halt here for what is left of the night. ”
This was an interesting lesson in decision fatigue and how decisions made when you’re low on willpower are not always good ones, so if you’re weary, the best decision you can make is go to sleep to build your willpower.

4. “This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet 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.”

This fancy quote was altered in the movie to something us mortals could understand; “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” Both send the same message home; Never underestimate yourself. You never know the impact of the work that you do. Even if you do one good deed and two people pay it forward, that would grow exponentially and you would have made a difference in the world. It’s known as the butterfly effect.

Do you have any favorite quotes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of The Rings? Leave them in the comments below.

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