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

Above the comforts of Base Camp, the expedition in fact became an almost Calvinistic undertaking. The ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any mountain I'd been on; I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking above all else, something like a state of grace.

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

At that stage of my youth, death remained as abstract a concept as non-Euclidean geometry or marriage. I didn't yet appreciate its terrible finality or the havoc it could wreak on those who'd entrusted the deceased with their hearts.

Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th Century invention and I don't want one. You don’t need to worry about me; I have a college education. I’m not destitute. I'm living like this by choice.

Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics and others with a shaky hold on reality.