I don’t deny that there can be an element of escapism in mountaineering, but this should never overshadow its real essence, which is not escape but victory over your own human frailty.

The mountains have rules. they are harsh rules, but they are there, and if you keep to them you are safe. A mountain is not like men. A mountain is sincere. The weapons to conquer it exist inside you, inside your soul.

We [climbers] demonstrate in the most stunning way of all - at the risk of our lives - that there is no limit to the effort man can demand of himself. This quality is the basis of all human achievementit can never be proved enough. I consider that we climbers - that I - serve all humanity. We prove that there is no limit to what man can do.

I've always been incapable of accepting fate, and I've always refused to die, and that has helped me to survive.

Climbing is not a battle with the elements, nor against the law of gravity. It's a battle against oneself.

If in normal conditions it is skill, which counts, in such extreme situations, it is the spirit, which saves.