“I have been seriously afraid at times but have used my fear as a stimulating factor rather than allowing it to paralyse me. My abilities have not been outstanding, but I have had sufficient strength and determination to meet my challenges and have usually managed to succeed with them.”
― View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest
― View from the Summit: The Remarkable Memoir by the First Person to Conquer Everest
“I had set myself an unattainable ideal. Such human skill I could summon wasn’t enough for the job. I felt the suicidal despair of all who longed to do what they couldn’t, what only a few in each century could – whether blessed or cursed in spirit. No achievement was ever finite. There was no absolute summit. No peak of Everest to plant a flag on. Success was someone else’s opinion.”
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“Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they've known for a great unknown beyond the horizon? Why climb this Mount Everest of formalities that makes you feel like a beggar? Why enter this jungle of foreignness where everything is new, strange and difficult? The answer is the same the world over: people move in hope of a better life.”
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“Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable.”
― Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
― Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Ask John Green - January 23, 2013
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— last activity Apr 08, 2025 02:29AM
Join us on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 for a special discussion with award winning author John Green. John will be discussing his work, including his ...more
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