Galadriel and Sophistication
This is Nenya, the Ring of Adamant, and I am its keeper.
Do we remember these iconic words by Galadriel?
Considered to be one of the mightiest and wisest elves, she was one of the very few who were not fooled by Sauron in the Second Age and therefore suggested to Celebrimbor to hide the Three Rings.
She also refrained from openly using the powers of Nenya while the One Ring was in Sauron’s possession, and only did so after the One Ring was lost (for it was only then that it was safe enough for her to do so).
When Frodo offered her the One Ring, she managed to reject the undeniable temptation, for she was wise enough to know that, though she might start off with good intentions with the One Ring in her possession, she would only become a tyrant as terrible as Sauron in the end.
Having rejected Frodo’s offer, she portrayed that she understood
- The seductive nature of power
- Control over her temptations
Needless to say, Tolkein moulded this scene really well.
Source: [S1]
There is no end to greed or dissatisfaction. There is just no absolute finite termination to it. You get a thing, you ask for more and subsequent cycles of getting and asking continue.
There is no ‘most’ in this context. You always want more.
Power is seductive indeed. It persuades you to go to much higher limits than you are actually capable of to get you some benefits in some form or the other, leading to tyranny.
Never leaving any way to become any more powerful unethically and taking hold of such power illegitimately leads to tyranny. They are in mere existence due to fraudulent means.
George Orwell wisely quoted:
All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.
Secondly, there are the temptations to be controlled. She could have grabbed the opportunity put in front of her, but she stayed.
As a child, I have had temptation for candies with an indispensable craving for them every back and forth, as it can be for any other child. Albeit too mundane and trivial a temptation as it can be when compared to the dilemma to uphold the absolute power, self-control counts.
Deeply and wisely quoted by Marcus Aurelius:
You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
