Ernest Shackleton > Quotes

“Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“We had seen God in His splendors, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.”
― Ernest Shackleton, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

“Through endurance we conquer.”
― Ernest H. Shackleton

“Superhuman effort isn't worth a damn unless it achieves results.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“If I had not some strength of will I would make a first class drunkard.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“Loneliness is the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out confidently and in expectation of success.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The last Antarctic expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance

“ i had a dream when i was 22 that someday i would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till i came to one of the poles of the earth”
― Ernest Shackleton

“When I look back at those days I have no doubt that Providence guided us, not only across those snowfields, but across the storm-white sea that separated Elephant Island from our landing-place on South Georgia. I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, ‘Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.’ Crean confessed to the same idea. One feels ‘the dearth of human words, the roughness of mortal speech’ in trying to describe things intangible, but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to a subject very near to our hearts.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The last Antarctic expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance

“A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“I thought you'd rather have a live donkey than a dead lion.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The last Antarctic expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance

“Need to put footstep of courage into stirrup of patience.”
― Ernest Shackleton, Shackleton: His Antarctic Writings

“I heard one man say, "Cook, I like my tea strong." Another joined in, "Cook, I like mine weak." It was pleasant to know that their minds were untroubled, but I thought the time opportune to mention that the tea would be the same for all hands and that we would be fortunate if two months later we had any tea at all. It occurred to me at the time that the incident had psychological interest. Here were men, their home crushed, the camp pitched on the unstable floes, and their chance of reaching safety apparently remote, calmly attending to the details of existence and giving their attention to such trifles as the strength of a brew of tea.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“My good friend the Governor said I could settle down at Port Stanley and take things quietly for a few weeks. The street of that port is about a mile and a half long. It has the slaughterhouse at one end and the graveyard at the other. The chief distraction is to walk from the slaughterhouse to the graveyard. For a change one may walk from the graveyard to the slaughterhouse.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“Difficulties are just things to overcome.”
― Ernest Shackleton

“A strange occurrence was the sudden appearance of eight emperor penguins from a crack 100 yds. away at the moment when the pressure upon the ship was at its climax. They walked a little way towards us, halted, and after a few ordinary calls proceeded to utter weird cries that sounded like a dirge for the ship. None of us had ever before heard the emperors utter any other than the most simple calls or cries, and the effect of this concerted effort was almost startling.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition

“All the dogs except eight had been named. I do not know who had been responsible for some of the names, which seemed to represent a variety of tastes. They were as follows Rugby, Upton Bristol, Millhill, Songster, Sandy, Mack, Mercury, Wolf, Amundsen, Hercules, Hackenschmidt, Samson, Sammy, Skipper, Caruso, Sub, Ulysses, Spotty, Bosun, Slobbers, Sadie, Sue, Sally, Jasper, Tim, Sweep, Martin, Splitlip, Luke, Saint, Satan, Chips, Stumps, Snapper, Painful, Bob, Snowball, Jerry, Judge, Sooty, Rufus, Sidelights, Simeon, Swanker, Chirgwin, Steamer, Peter, Fluffy, Steward, Slippery, Elliott, Roy, Noel, Shakespeare, Jamie, Bummer, Smuts, Lupoid, Spider, and Sailor. Some of the names, it will be noticed, had a descriptive flavour.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition

“Our spoons are one of our indispensable possessions here. To lose one's spoon would be almost as serious as it is for an edentate person to lose his set of false teeth.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Endurance Expedition to Antarctica

“Just when things looked their worse, they changed for the best. I have marveled often at the thin line that divides success from failure and the sudden turn that leads from apparently certain disaster to comparative safety.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917

“There once was a mouse who lived in a tavern. One night the mouse found a leaky barrel of beer, and he drank all he could hold. When the mouse had finished, he sat up, twirled his whiskers, and looked around arrogantly. “Now then,” he said, “where’s that damned cat?”
― Ernest Shackleton, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

“Deep seemed the valleys when we lay between the reeling seas.”
― Sir Ernest Shackleton, South!: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917

“The temperature was not strikingly low as temperatures go down here, but the terrific winds penetrate the flimsy fabric of our fragile tents and create so much draught that it is impossible to keep warm within. At supper last night our drinking-water froze over in the tin in the tent before we could drink it. It is curious how thirsty we all are.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South!

“The moving of the boulders was weary and painful work. We came to know every one of the stones by sight and touch, and I have vivid memories of their angular peculiarities even to-day.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South! (Illustrated): The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917

“When I look back at those days I have no doubt that Providence guided us, not only across those snow fields, but across the storm-white sea that separated Elephant Island from our landing place on South Georgia. I know that during that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia it seemed to me often that we were four, not three. I said nothing to my companions on the point, but afterwards Worsley said to me, 'Boss, I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us." Crean confessed to the same idea. One feels the 'dearth of human words, the roughness of mortal speech' in trying to describe things intangible, but a record of our journeys would be incomplete without a reference to a subject very near and dear to our hearts.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South

“The movement of the floes was beyond all human control, and there was nothing to be gained by allowing one’s mind to struggle with the problems of the future,”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917

“Huge blocks of ice, weighing many tons, were lifted into the air and tossed aside as other masses rose beneath them. We were helpless intruders in a strange world, our lives dependent upon the play of grim elementary forces that made a mock of our puny efforts.”
― Sir Ernest Shackleton, South!

“[...] "Who the hell are you?" he said at last.

The man in the center stepped forward.

"My name is Shackleton" he replied in a quiet voice.”
― Ernest Shackleton, Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

“The articles had frozen stiff during the night, and the owners considered, it appeared, that this state of affairs provided them with a grievance, or at any rate gave them the right to grumble. They said they wanted dry clothes and that their health would not admit of their doing any work. Only by rather drastic methods were they induced to turn to. Frozen gloves and helmets undoubtedly are very uncomfortable, and the proper thing is to keep these articles thawed by placing them inside one’s shirt during the night.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition

“Finally, it was the Chilian Government that was directly responsible for the rescue of my comrades. This southern Republic was unwearied in its efforts to make a successful rescue, and the gratitude of our whole party is due to them. I especially mention the sympathetic attitude of Admiral Muñoz Hurtado, head of the Chilian Navy, and Captain Luis Pardo, who commanded the Yelcho on our last and successful venture.”
― Ernest Shackleton, South: The Story of Shackleton's 1914-1917 Expedition