Edmund Hillary

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

“Well, we knocked the bastard off.”

“You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things—to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”

“People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”

“I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can't grow, but as a human, I can.”

“Life's a bit like mountaineering - never look down.”

“I have discovered that even the mediocre can have adventures and even the fearful can achieve.”

“Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.”

“No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time.”

“When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them.”

“I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.”

“I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.”

“The plain truth is that I am a lucky man. I have been able to earn a living doing what I love. And I have been able to do some good in the process.”

“I had very modest ambitions. I was a bit of a dreamer.”

“The explorers of the past were great men and we should honour them. But let us not forget that their spirit lives on.”