Tolkien, a veteran of the First World War, clearly had a lot of experience with death, and there are several Gandalf quotes that are clearly a conduit for the author's own views on the subject.

The best Gandalf quotes are the ones that display his immense ... Movie(s) The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ...