10 quotes
A trancelike state settles over your efforts; the climb becomes a clear-eyed dream.
Into the Wild (1996)
In solo climbing the whole enterprise is held together with little more than chutzpah, not the most reliable adhesive.
Into the Wild (1996)
I've come to terms with the fact that uncertainty is an inescapable corollary of life. An abundance of mystery is simply part of the bargain — which doesn't strike me as something to lament.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003)
But now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn't summon the energy to care.
Into Thin Air (1997)
There are some ten thousand religious sects — each with its own cosmology, each with its own answer for the meaning of life and death. Most assert that the other 9,999 not only have it completely wrong but are instruments of evil, besides.
Early on a difficult climb, especially a difficult solo climb, you constantly feel the abyss pulling at your back. To resist takes a tremendous conscious effort; you don't dare let your guard down for an instant.
Into the Wild (1996)
Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet.
Into Thin Air (1997)
Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why — which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003)
I don't know what God is, or what God had in mind when the universe was set in motion. In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty.
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003)
Now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn't summon the energy to care so I jumped off right into the abyss and it was there I lied until the rescuers found me.