I'm a very, very modest person and with limited abilities. I do have the wish to succeed in anything I undertake, and that does help out, but, in general, there are so many other people who are skilled in their field that I feel very ordinary.

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.

I get older I get more cantankerous, but June [Hillary] gets a bit more cantankerous, too.

Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.

Adventuring can be for the ordinary person with ordinary qualities, such as I regard myself.

It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.

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