I have a very different fear if I'm all alone in the summit area of Mount Everest and if I know that there is nothing below me, no Sherpa, no tent, no rope.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the profound fear of isolation in extreme situations, emphasizing the importance of support and safety.
Reinhold Messner's quote illustrates the psychological fear of being completely alone in a perilous environment, such as at the summit of Mount Everest. He highlights that without the essential safety measures and support from others, the sheer isolation can become a source of intense fear, reminding us that even the bravest endeavors require a support system to mitigate risks and provide assurance.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming personal fears in extreme situations.
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 had insecurities and fears like everybody does, and I got over it. But I was interested in the parts of me that struggled with those things.
It's kind of a rule of thumb for me to self-doubt going into any kind of project. I always think that I shouldn't be doing it and I don't know how to do it and I'm going to fail and that I fooled them. I always try to find a way out.
Without courage, all other virtues are useless.
The guerrilla band is not to be considered inferior to the army against which it fights simply because it is inferior in fire power.
Every red stripe in that flag represents the black man's blood that has been shed.
When I was 10 years old, my neighbor died in front of me of an asthma attack, because he and his family were undocumented immigrants and his grandmother was afraid of what would happen if they called an ambulance for help.
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