Context

It's not often you get to quote a poem within a novel—but now's your chance. 

The poem is called "All that is gold does not glitter" (a.k.a. "The Riddle of Strider), and it appears in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.

The poem is written by Gandalf in a letter that he sends to Frodo. The letter tells Frodo that he must leave Bree and that he should trust the mysterious Strider (who has yet to reveal himself as Aragorn and drive all the ladies crazy).

The quote, along with the other lines of them poem, is all about Aragorn and his current role as a ranger. The rangers wander the land, not because they have lost their way, but because they are trying to protect people from the evils of the land (like those nine nasty Nazgul).

Where you've heard it

Authors love them some gold stuff.

Robert Frost says "nothing gold can stay," and Shakespeare said "all that glitters is not gold."

Wait, that last one sounds familiar...

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Quoting Lord of the Rings isn't usually too bad, but this line never even made it into the movies, so we'll bump up the rating a bit.