Climbing is not a competition, and you cannot talk in terms of 'greatest,' it means nothing.
Interpretation
Climbing should be seen as a personal journey rather than a competition with others.
Reinhold Messner emphasizes that the act of climbing should not be measured against others or compared to notions of who is the 'greatest.' Instead, it is a deeply personal experience that focuses on individual growth, challenges, and the connection with the mountains rather than the accolades or rankings one might achieve in a competitive context.
In practice
Use this quote in a motivational speech to inspire climbers to focus on their personal growth.
I became famous for the fact that I would break many, many limits. People said, 'He does all these crazy things.' But oddly it was a crazy thing only because scientists and climbers said, 'Everest and the 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen - impossible. Messner is becoming sick in his head.'
A 30-year-old rock climber is an old man. At 40, one is in the middle of his high-altitude power. At 50, a crosser of deserts is at his best age. But at 60, each of us is out of the game.
I think my cultural work is more important than the adventures I did. The adventures are not important for human beings. It's the conquering of the useless.
In mountaineering, there is not only the activity, but the philosophy behind it. Some say a moral, but I am against that because all morality is dangerous.
I was the first man to climb the world's 14 tallest peaks without supplementary oxygen, but I never asked how high I would go, just how I would do it.
In my state of spiritual abstraction, I no longer belong to myself and to my eyesight. I am nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung, floating over the mists and summits.
I see with greater and greater clearness that consistent Christianity is the easiest Christianity to defend
Bright was the light of my last martini on my moral horizon
In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation; now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History?
God is always joking. Look at your own life - it is a joke! Look at other people's lives, and you will find jokes and jokes and jokes. Seriousness is illness; seriousness has nothing spiritual about it. Spirituality is laughter, spirituality is joy, spirituality is fun.
Even if you play perfectly, a fault of your opponent's can destroy the entire beauty of the game.
Some people believe that the nuclear bomb should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, since it scared the major powers away from war by equating it with doomsday.
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