I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong... to measure yourself at least once.

weeping...betraying a sense of loss so huge and irreparable that the mind balks at taking its measure.

That's what was great about him. He tried. Not many do.

You are wrong if you think Joy emanates only...from human relationships. God has placed it all around us...and all you have to do is reach for it.

Although the far territory of the extreme can exert an intoxicating pull on susceptible individuals of all bents, extremism seems to be especially prevalent among those inclined by temperament or upbringing toward religious pursuits. Faith is the very antithesis of reason, injudiciousness a crucial component of spiritual devotion. And when religious fanaticism supplants ratiocination, all bets are suddenly off.

Most climbers aren't in fact deranged, they're just infected with a particularly virulent strain of the Human Condition.

The sad end he met in Afghanistan was more accurately a function of his stubborn idealism - his insistence on trying to do the right thing. In which case it wasn't a tragic flaw that brought Tillman down, but a tragic virtue.