In a civilization of wage slaves, where people seek to…

Classic mountaineering grows out of a traditional romantic imagination. Its heart is the feeling, its path is blood, sweat and tears, and its restriction…

— Wojciech Kurtyka

While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

— John Muir

“Og er ikke klippen sin tilbedelse værd? Prøver den ikke hjerte og nyrer før den gir plas for de utvalgte?”

— Peter Wessel Zapffe

John Wayne never wore Lycra.

— Ron Kauk

[In mountaineering, if] we look for private experience rather than public history, even getting to the top becomes an optional narrative rather than the…

— Rebecca Solnit

The bizarre trend in mountaineers is not the risk they take, but the large degree to which they value life. They are not crazy…

— Lisa Morgan

“Mountaineering is always spoken of as though summiting is conquest, but as you get higher, the world gets bigger, and you feel smaller in…

— Rebecca Solnit

“The fact that I am still alive, when so many friends and others climbing the 8000ers have died is humbling. ... It is only…

— Alan Hinkes

It's one of the ironies of mountaineering,' said Young, 'that grown men are happy to spend months preparing for a climb, weeks rehearsing and…

— Jeffrey Archer

“Maybe mountaineering shouldn't be considered heroic at all, since the whole effort is 'useless' and in no way to be compared with sitting down…

— Robert Roper

The fact that I'm three months pregnant doesn't change anything.

— Catherine Destivelle

Doubly happy, however, is the man to whom lofty mountain tops are within reach.

— John Muir

“...by bringing myself over the edge and back, I discovered a passion to live my days fully, a conviction that will sustain me like…

— Jonathan Waterman

One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced that one can win the end - to…

— George Leigh Mallory

Climbing at altitude is like hitting your head against a brick wall - it's great when you stop.

— Chris Darwin