We are a nation of shop keepers.

I might have speculated on my chances of going to Heaven; but candidly I did not care. I could not have wept if I had tried. I had no wish to review the evils of my past. But the past did seem to have been a bit wasted. The road to Hell may be paved with good intentions: the road to Heaven is paved with lost opportunities.

Take it all in all, I do not believe anybody on earth has a worse time than an Emperor penguin.

I am glad The Worst Journey is coming out in Penguins: after all it is largely about penguins.

If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.

And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore.

For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a winter journey, give me Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen; and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time.