The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.

It was titillating to brush up against the enigma of mortality, to steal a glimpse across its forbidden frontier. Climbing was a magnificient activity, I firmly believed, not in spite of the inherent perils, but precisely because of them.

But somethings in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.

If you want a blank spot on the map, you gotta leave the map behind.

I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth.

Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often.

The trip was to be an odyssey in the fullest sense of the word, an epic journey that would change everything.