Reposted from 8/24/2010
“Wonderful folk, Elves, sir! Wonderful!”
“They are,” said Frodo. “Do you like them still, now you have had a closer view?”
“They seem a bit above my likes and dislikes, so to speak,” answered Sam slowly. “It don’t seem to matter what I think about them.”
This quote isn’t particularly profound, but it embodies a way of viewing the world that I have always liked. There are some things on which we have no sway, such as the ocean, or the sun and moon, or the stars. They are bigger and grander and older than we can truly comprehend, hovering on another level where likes and dislikes don’t matter. When we accept that there are things higher than us, that acceptance brings a kind of peace. We can be content to be small as we step back to regard the beautiful with a sense of quite wonder, as Sam does here.
~Lisa Shafter
What I particularly enjoy about this observation by Sam is that it demonstrates his humility. To be willing to admit that something is beyond him is quite a confession - one that I see most people incapable of in their daily lives. The temptation with any situation where we are really out of our depth is to pretend that we aren't, that we are so "with it" that nothing surprises us or could possibly transcend our intellect and knowledge.
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