“It seemed to Frodo then that he heard, quite plainly but far off, voices out of the past:

. . . .

I do not feel any pity for Gollum.  He deserves death.

Deserves death!  I daresay he does.  Many that live deserve death.  And some die that deserve life.  Can you give that to them?  Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety.  Even the wise cannot see all ends.”

–from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein