A first ascent is a creation in the same sense as is a painting or a song

Instead of the god of security, we bow to the greater god of freedom, the freedom to take risks and master danger in order to be intensely alive.

My ambition was to become the best climber and I never did. I think that goal was a wrong goal. A better one is to put more emphasis on enjoyment and on getting a rounded experience and on things like friendship, rather than on sheer achievement.

When it's been a long day of climbing, and I feel like I can't go any farther, I concentrate on the next three feet. And then the next three feet; and then the next three feet. Pretty soon, I'm at the top.

With the best equipment in the world the man with poor judgment is in mortal danger.

A simple equation exists between freedom and numbers: the more people, the less freedom.

Better we raise our skill than lower the climb