# Quote — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

> ...but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to.

- Author: [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien.md)
- Book: [The Hobbit](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hobbit#Chapter_III:_A_Short_Rest) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Topics: [happiness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness.md), [storytelling](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/storytelling.md)
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit/but-things-that
- JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit/but-things-that.json

## More from this book

> This thing all things devours:
>
> Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
>
> Gnaws iron, bites steel;
>
> Grinds hard stones to meal;
>
> Slays king, ruins town,
>
> And beats high mountain down.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit/this-thing-all.md)

Topics: [time](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/time.md), [transience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/transience.md)

> The mere fleeting glimpses of treasure which they had caught as they went along had rekindled all the fire of their dwarvish hearts; and when the heart of a dwarf, even the most respectable, is wakened by gold and by jewels, he grows suddenly bold, and he may become fierce.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit/the-mere-fleeting.md)

Topics: [greed](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/greed.md)

> You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jrr-tolkien/the-hobbit/you-certainly-usually.md)

Topics: [curiosity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/curiosity.md)