"What a pity that Bilbo did not..." - Quote by J R R Tolkien

What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature, when he had a chance!' Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.
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More on Pity

“This is the crux of the moral pessimists: if they really wanted to promote their neighbor's redemption, then they would have to resolve themselves to spoiling existence for him, and thus to being his misfortune; out of pity, they would have to--become evil!”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
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— H. L. Mencken
“If pity is akin to love, gratitude is akin to the other thing.”
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More on Mercy

“There is no more mercy in him than there is milk in a male tiger.”
— William Shakespeare
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”
— Abraham Lincoln
“Be merciful, moderate, and modest.”
— Lao Tzu