181 Quotes by Reinhold Messner

How do I pack my rucksack? More like a gambler than a minimalist. I am not someone who likes solving puzzles. Because I never leave anything I might want behind, I first pack anything that falls into my hands. Then as if looking for a prize, I put in a hand, rummage about and pull objects out at random until the rucksack reaches the correct weight. With this process I always have sufficient spare clothing.

After every few steps, we huddle over our ice axes mouths agape, struggling for sufficient breath to keep our muscles going.... at a height of 8800 metres, we can no longer keep on our feet while we rest. We crumple to our knees, clutching our axes.... Every ten or fifteen steps we collapse into the snow to rest, then crawl on again.

The higher I climb, the deeper I understand my fears; the bigger the mountain, the clearer the view I have of my own existence.

...seen from above, landscapes are made up of mountains and watercourses. Just as a transparent model of the human body consists of a framework of bone and a network of arteries, the earth's crust is structured in mountain ridges, river, creeks, and gullies.

Als Abenteurer habe ich weder gegen die Natur angekämpft noch mich in ihr verloren. Ich habe gelernt, in ihr zu lesen, sie als gegeben zu respektieren und nicht weiter mit dem Leben zu hadern. Damit bin ich zu meinen Erkenntnissen über die Menschennatur gekommen und zu dem Mut, den Sinn in meinem Tun selbst zu definieren. Niemand hat mich dazu gezwungen. Ständig in der Wildnis unterwegs und vor das Nichts gestellt, zwingt uns die Natur zur Besinnung auf uns selbst.

The passion I have for what could be viewed as a futile pursuit has made me strong, and it is this that gives me the confidence required to lead a self-determined life.

When I am identifying an objective, the summit is everything. I wouldn't make it up otherwise. I'm not a superman; I'm just mentally capable of concentrating on the end point.Once this has been achieved, I need a new task, a new idea, a new project. I've been lucky so far - I've always been able to get myself motivated for the next new thing. The challenges I set myself are age-related.

My feeling of satisfaction, my happiness if you like, is not dependent on applause or accolades of any kind but on the fact that I was able to do what I wanted to do - and to see it through.

To insist that the world has to be a certain way is dangerous idealism. You can't force your ideals on the world; you can only work toward them.