Vilhjalmur Stefansson

“The north has been a librating influence on me. To go north is to go home.”

“The friendly Arctic.”

“An adventure is a sign of incompetence.”

“There are two kinds of adventures: those we have and those we dream of having.”

“Misfortunes are the results of incompetence, laziness, or bad planning.”

“The adventures of the polar regions are now over.”

“A discovery is a new and important fact...which was not known before to the person who makes the discovery.”

“A great deal of the world's work is done by people who don't feel very well.”

“With more forethought, and more of the scientific spirit...there would be fewer of those heroic and tragic episodes.”