Quotes by Edmund Hillary

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.”

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

“Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.”

“As far as I knew, he had never taken a photograph before, and the summit of Everest was hardly the place to show him how.”

“We knocked the bastard off.”

“I am hell-bent for the South Pole-God willing and crevasses permitting.”

“There is precious little in civilization to appeal to a Yeti.”

“Better if he had said something natural like, Jesus, here we are.”

“Well, we knocked the bast*rd off!”

You dont have to be a hero to accomplish great things---to compete. You can just be an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.

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

If you only do what others have already done, you will only feel what others have already felt. However, if you choose to achieve something that no one has ever done, then you will have a satisfaction that no one else has ever had.

Good planning is important. Ive also regarded a sense of humor as one of the most important things on a big expedition. When youre in a difficult or dangerous situation, or when youre depressed about the chances of success, someone who can make you laugh eases the tension.

I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.

Ever since the morning of May 29, 1953, when Tenzing Norgay and I became the first climbers to step onto the summit of Mount Everest, Ive been called a great adventurer.

Tourism is a very big economic benefit to the Sherpa people, and also, they have very strong ties to their own social attitudes and their own religion, so fortunately, theyre not too influenced by many of our Western attitudes.

No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time.

Im sure the feeling of fear, as long as you can take advantage of it and not be rendered useless by it, can make you extend yourself beyond what you would regard as your capacity. If youre afraid, the blood seems to flow freely through the veins, and you really do feel a sense of stimulation.

I can remember when I first went into the Himalayan area way back in 1951. Money, for instance, was not important at all to the local people. But now, finance has become just as important to them as it is to us, and this is a change maybe not for the better.