Personally, I would rather climb in the high mountains. I have always abhorred the tremendous heat, the dirt-filled cracks, the ant-covered foul-smelling trees and bushes which cover the cliffs, the filth and noise of Camp 4 (the climbers' campground), and worst of all, the multitudes of tourists which abound during the weekends and summer months.

I've always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession that doesn't appeal to me. Once I reach 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different; that probably explains the diversity of the Patagonia product like - and why our versatile, multifaceted clothes are the most successful.

It's not an adventure until something goes wrong.

A real capitalist knows that $10 given today does a lot more good than $100 given 10 years from now.

Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all.

Mastery... is to work toward simplicity; replace complex technology with knowledge, hard work, and skill.

The most important thing is to get the fish in quickly and leave it in the water. Forget the hero pose.