--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The whole idea of comparing climbers is…" description: "\"The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. It would be like sitting Van Gogh down with Rembrandt and saying, Ready, get set, go.\" — Pat Ament" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/pat-ament-54394_climbers_the-whole-idea-of-comparing-climbers-is_631586.jpg" --- # The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. It… ![“The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. It would be like sitting Van Gogh down with Rembrandt and saying, Ready, get set, go.” quote by Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/pat-ament-54394_climbers_the-whole-idea-of-comparing-climbers-is_631586.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/pat-ament-54394_climbers_the-whole-idea-of-comparing-climbers-is_631586.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/pat-ament-54394_climbers_the-whole-idea-of-comparing-climbers-is_631586.jpg) > “The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. It would be like sitting Van Gogh down with Rembrandt and saying, Ready, get set, go.” [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Comparing climbers is absurd, like pitting Van Gogh against Rembrandt in a race; artistic talent isn’t a competition. **In simple terms:** Comparing climbers is as ridiculous as racing great artists. Key Takeaway Celebrate unique strengths without competition. Themes art comparison talent individuality Mood inspirational thoughtful Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - team building - skill development - performance reviews - creative collaborations Key Concepts subjectivity creative expression non‑linear progress Questions to Reflect On - How can we foster collaboration over competition? - What metrics honor diverse talents? A Different Perspective Competitive framing can demotivate and oversimplify growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Climbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbers/) [Climbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbing/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) ## Related quotes > [Newspapers ascribe the word "climber" to any person who falls in the mountains or off a rock. To refer to anyone who falls in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/newspapers-ascribe-the-word-climber-to-any-person-who-falls-in-the/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) > [“Where is the absolution of religion now? Morality is not negotiable, Hensley. Unleashing a war machine in order to end a war? An absurd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazel-woods/where-is-the-absolution-of-religion-now-morality-is-not-negotiable/) [Hazel Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazel-woods/) > [Dictators are ludicrous characters, and, you know, in my career and in my life, I've always enjoyed sort of inhabiting these ludicrous, larger-than-life characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sacha-baron-cohen/dictators-are-ludicrous-characters-and-you-know-in-my-career-and-in/) [Sacha Baron Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sacha-baron-cohen/) > [I think to compare Germany to the Third Reich is utterly ludicrous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/i-think-to-compare-germany-to-the-third-reich-is-utterly-ludicrous/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [Note even Jonathan Swift would dare to write a satire in which politicians argued that - in a world where species are vanishing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/note-even-jonathan-swift-would-dare-to-write-a-satire-in-which/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [Life is a very bad novelist. It is chaotic and ludicrous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/life-is-a-very-bad-novelist-it-is-chaotic-and-ludicrous/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [ “If it was occasionally ludicrous, it was always sublime. \[Estelle Jussim on the 19th century Cult of the Beautiful.\] ” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estelle-jussim/if-it-was-occasionally-ludicrous-it-was-always-sublime-estelle-jussim/) Estelle Jussim > [“The idea of spilling blood for the sake of oil would have seemed ludicrous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/the-idea-of-spilling-blood-for-the-sake-of-oil-would-have-seemed/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [One of the things that frequently gets lost in descriptions of depression is that the depressed person often knows that it is a ludicrous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/one-of-the-things-that-frequently-gets-lost-in-descriptions-of/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [But then every man is ludicrous if you look at him from outside, without taking into account what’s going on in his heart and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/but-then-every-man-is-ludicrous-if-you-look-at-him-from-outside/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Would that I were still a ludicrous character in his lousy book!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/would-that-i-were-still-a-ludicrous-character-in-his-lousy-book/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Obviously, I've made statements that were ludicrous and crazy and outrageous and all those things, because that's the way I always was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/obviously-i-ve-made-statements-that-were-ludicrous-and-crazy-and/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [It is a truth universally acknowledged that a delusional Housewife in possession of an audience must be in want of a ludicrous storyline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carole-radziwill/it-is-a-truth-universally-acknowledged-that-a-delusional-housewife-in/) [Carole Radziwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carole-radziwill/) > [Banning sports is a ludicrous proposition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pilon/banning-sports-is-a-ludicrous-proposition/) [Mary Pilon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pilon/) > [What puzzles me is the way that some of the smaller, unknown chateaux imagine that because Chinese millionaires pay ludicrous sums for the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/what-puzzles-me-is-the-way-that-some-of-the-smaller-unknown-chateaux/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) ## More by Pat Ament > [Newspapers ascribe the word "climber" to any person who falls in the mountains or off a rock. To refer to anyone who falls in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/newspapers-ascribe-the-word-climber-to-any-person-who-falls-in-the/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) > [What one leads on-sight, in good, strong style, safely, is what one's ability is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/what-one-leads-on-sight-in-good-strong-style-safely-is-what-one-s/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) > [Riding a bike works your legs but not your brain. Playing chess works your mind but not your body. Climbing brings it all together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/riding-a-bike-works-your-legs-but-not-your-brain-playing-chess-works/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) > [Now I approach climbing differently. I have learned less effort and energy, less obsession, and more feeling, as with piano, more emphasis and less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/now-i-approach-climbing-differently-i-have-learned-less-effort-and/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) > [When you ride your bike, you're working your legs, but your mind is on a treadmill. When you play chess, your mind is clicking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-ament/when-you-ride-your-bike-you-re-working-your-legs-but-your-mind-is-on/) [Pat Ament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) [Explore all 6 Pat Ament quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-ament/) ## More Climbers quotes > [“The two climbers looked at each other, a glance that bored all the way down to Medvetz's DNA - not desperate or pleading or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-heil/the-two-climbers-looked-at-each-other-a-glance-that-bored-all-the-way/) Nick Heil > [There's a lot of mountain climbers trapped inside of bodies of people behind the counter at Kinko's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rollins/there-s-a-lot-of-mountain-climbers-trapped-inside-of-bodies-of-people/) [Henry Rollins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rollins/) > [I love to read about the exploits of technical mountain climbers, but I've never done any vertical climbing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-hobbs/i-love-to-read-about-the-exploits-of-technical-mountain-climbers-but/) [Will Hobbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-hobbs/) > [In his bleak mercy, Death forever strips The soul of light and memory, rendering blind Our vision, lest surmounted deeps appal, As when on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-ashton-smith/in-his-bleak-mercy-death-forever-strips-the-soul-of-light-and-memory/) [Clark Ashton Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-ashton-smith/) > [Lonnie says it doesn't take long to write a song if you're stricken with a severe case of the Tennysons. He wasn't necessarily talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-jenkins/lonnie-says-it-doesn-t-take-long-to-write-a-song-if-you-re-stricken/) [Dan Jenkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-jenkins/) > [Climbers have no sense of smell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-anker/climbers-have-no-sense-of-smell/) Conrad Anker > [There are two kinds of climbers... smart ones and dead ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-whillans/there-are-two-kinds-of-climbers-smart-ones-and-dead-ones/) Don Whillans > [In his laborious efforts to attain mountaintops, where the air is lighter and purer, the climber gains new strength of limb. In the endeavor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xi/in-his-laborious-efforts-to-attain-mountaintops-where-the-air-is/) [Pope Pius XI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xi/) > [the deepest part of me is, and will always be, a climber. ... No matter where I go, I always feel like a climber.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-allison/the-deepest-part-of-me-is-and-will-always-be-a-climber-no-matter/) [Stacy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-allison/) > [Enjoyment, on the other hand, is not always pleasant, and it can be very stressful at times. A mountain climber, for example, may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/enjoyment-on-the-other-hand-is-not-always-pleasant-and-it-can-be-very/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Everest has a special place in all of our imaginations. For centuries, Everest was a little bit like the moon. It was the place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-engel/everest-has-a-special-place-in-all-of-our-imaginations-for-centuries/) [Richard Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-engel/) > [Out of all the climbers of this generation, I was the one who became known to the larger public. Many of them - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-messner/out-of-all-the-climbers-of-this-generation-i-was-the-one-who-became/) [Reinhold Messner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-messner/) > [If some people are right, artists are put into this world not to practice their art, but to talk about it. And judging by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-smyth/if-some-people-are-right-artists-are-put-into-this-world-not-to/) [Ethel Smyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-smyth/) > [Many have questioned the quality of this sort of achievement, deploring the use of pitons, tension traverses and expansion bolts, but the record speaks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-steck/many-have-questioned-the-quality-of-this-sort-of-achievement/) Allen Steck > [Climbing for speed records will probably become more popular, a mania which has just begun. Climbers climb not just to see how fast and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvon-chouinard/climbing-for-speed-records-will-probably-become-more-popular-a-mania/) [Yvon Chouinard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvon-chouinard/) [Browse all 125 Climbers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The whole idea of comparing climbers is ludicrous. 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