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

And if I remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity, I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths: Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why-- which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive.

It is easy, when you are young, to believe that what you desire is no less than what you deserve, to assume that if you want something badly enough, it is your God-given right to have it.

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

Heaven, for me, is one focused project - it's like a weird form of autism.

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

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