Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

These are hard questions. I decided to answer most of them with quotes from Lord of the Rings.

1. Do you own your things or do your things own you?

A. I own my things. When things own you, decay comes.  "The old wisdom born out of the West was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons." - Gandalf

2. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

A. I'd rather not answer this question. But here's a Lord of the Rings quote to ponder: “But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know.” – Celeborn

or this quote:

“Memory is not what the heart desires. That is only a mirror.” — Gimli

3. When you are 80 years old, what will matter to you the most?

A. Other people. “For behold! the storm comes, and now all friends should gather together, lest each singly be destroyed.” – Gandalf

4. What do you have that you cannot live without?

A. My heart. “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.”  – Haldir

5. When you close your eyes what do you see?

A. Everything. “You may learn something, and whether what you see be fair or evil, that may be profitable, and yet it may not. Seeing is both good and perilous.” - Galadriel, Lord of the Rings

6. What sustains you on a daily basis?

A. Hope. “But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.” — Samwise Gamgee

7. What are your top five personal values?

A. Kindness, creativity, honesty, loyalty, open-mindedness. “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.” – Elrond

8. What personal prisons have you built out of fears?

A. “Courage is found in unlikely places.” – Gildor

9. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?

A. “Do not trouble your hearts overmuch with thought of the road tonight. Maybe the paths that you each shall tread are already laid before your feet, though you do not see them.” — Galadriel

10. If you haven’t achieved it yet what do you have to lose?

A. “Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” – Bilbo Baggins

11. What three words would you use to describe the last three months of your life?

A. Boring, worry, anxiety.

12. Is it ever right to do the wrong thing?  Is it ever wrong to do the right thing?

A. “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.” — Frodo (quoting Bilbo Baggins) 

13. How would you describe ‘freedom’ in your own words?

A. The ability to do what I need or want, without infringing upon the needs, desires, hopes, dreams, air, etc., of other people. 

14. What is the most important thing you could do right now in your personal life?

A. “When in doubt, follow your nose.” — Gandalf

15. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?

A. Reading and playing video games.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.