I can remember when I first went into the Himalayan area way back in 1951. Money, for instance, was not important at all to the local people. But now, finance has become just as important to them as it is to us, and this is a change maybe not for the better.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the shift in values of a community, emphasizing the negative impact of commercialization.
Edmund Hillary's quote highlights the transformation of local communities in the Himalayan region, noting that in the past, money held little importance to them. However, with the influence of modernity and external values, finance has become a crucial factor, suggesting that such a change may not necessarily be beneficial for the community's well-being and traditional values.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the impact of globalization on indigenous cultures.
I think I mainly climb mountains because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. I never attempt to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I think that all mountaineers do get a great deal of satisfaction out of overcoming some challenge which they think is very difficult for them, or which perhaps may be a little dangerous.
Despite all I have seen and experiences, I still get the same thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb toward it.
I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.
Even when you're 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.
Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.
I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.
The writer catches the changes of his mind on the hop. Growth is exciting; growth is dynamic and alarming. Growth of the soul, growth of the mind.
Global warming is not just the greatest environmental challenge facing our planet - it is one of our greatest challenges of any kind.
I think Dr. King would be pleased to see the number of elected officials of color - African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and progressive whites.
Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.
The biggest impediment to growth is in our minds and not in the world outside, and only constant in the world is change.
We all have the chance to create a world where extreme poverty is the exception rather than the rule.
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