How we cite our quotes: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph).
Quote #7
"But it's only sense: put the one lowest as is most likely to slip. I don't want to come down atop of you and knock you off—no sense in killing two with one fall."
Before Frodo could stop him, he sat down, swung his legs over the brink, and twisted around, scrabbling with his toes for a foothold. It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood, or more unwise.
"No, no! Sam, you old ass!" said Frodo. "You'll kill yourself for certain, going over like that without even a look to see what to make for. Come back!" He took Sam under the armpits and hauled him up again. "Now, wait a bit and be patient!" he said. (4.1.33-5)
In this scene, the age difference between Frodo and Sam becomes quite clear. Not only is Frodo Sam's boss, but he is also the wiser of the two, and the less careless (at least, until the Ring starts taking him over). Here in this scene on the rock face of Emyn Muil, Frodo doesn't shy away from bossing Sam around, calling him an "old ass," and picking him up like a child.
Quote #8
"The old fortress, very old, very horrible now. We used to hear tales from the South, when Sméagol was young, long ago. O yes, we used to tell lots of tales in the evening, sitting by the banks of the Great River, in the willow-lands, when the River was younger too, gollum, gollum." He began to weep and mutter. (4.3.34)
Whenever Gollum remembers his youth, he always gets more Sméagol-like, without so much of the "evil light in his eyes" (4.3.52). We can't forget that Sméagol didn't start out as Gollum. He became Gollum through murder and misery, all thanks to the Ring. The fact that even characters like Gollum and Saruman do not start evil suggests something important about the moral universe of The Lord of the Rings: nothing is born bad. If we all start out as moral blank slates, and it's only when we act wrongly that we become evil, there must be a bit of a parallel between youth and goodness. It's only with time and bad choices that Gollum goes from being a hobbit-like lad to his current, twisted self. Remember, even the orcs come from the corruption of elves, and are not created bad (source, pg. 250) No wonder Merry and Pippin, the youngest of the crew, also seem the most innocent.
Quote #9
But we have our tales too, and news out of the South, you know. In the old days hobbits used to go on their travels now and again. Not that many ever came back, and not that all they said was believed: news from Bree, and not sure as Shiretalk, as the sayings go. But I've heard tales of the big folk down away in the Sunlands [...] They put houses and towers on the oliphauntses backs and all, and the oliphaunts throw rocks and trees at one another. So when you said "Men out of the South, all in red and gold," I said "were there any oliphaunts?" For if there was, I was going to take a look, risk or not. But now I don't suppose I'll ever see an oliphaunt. Maybe there ain't no such beast. (4.3.71)
Oh, you have youthful tales, Gollum? Well Sam's got 'em, too. Sam's recitation of the Shire rhyme about oliphaunts ("Grey as a mouse,/ Big as a house,/ Nose like a snake,/ I make the earth shake" [4.3.71]) is such a sudden reminder of the Shire and the youth that both Frodo and Sam passed there that it makes Frodo laugh. Here they are, sitting looking at Cirith Gorgor and talking about Cirith Ungol, and Sam's youthful song evokes a laugh, possibly because it ties together joyful things: the Shire, their past, tales, and happiness.