I was incredibly stubborn. I mean, I believe that my father was frequently in the right, but I would never admit it, and so we did have a few set-tos on various topics; but on the whole as I got older and my father got more mature we got along reasonably well.

Challenge is what makes men. It will be the end when men stop looking for new challenges.

Motivation is the single most important factor in any sort of success.

You don't 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 like to think of Everest as a great mountaineering challenge, and when you've got people just streaming up the mountain - well, many of them are just climbing it to get their name in the paper, really.

I was a dreamer when I was at high school and even primary school. I used to dream about doing adventurous things.

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