I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary.
Interpretation
Facing fears is integral to overcoming challenges.
Edmund Hillary reflects on his experiences climbing Everest, acknowledging that fear is a natural part of tackling formidable challenges. His statement emphasizes the idea that fear should not deter us; rather, it is a component of the journey towards achieving greatness and conquering the unknown.
In practice
In a motivational speech to inspire climbers to embrace their fears.
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.
I may have absolutely no control over what happens to us, but we can control how we respond. If we choose the right attitude, we can rise above whatever challenges we face.
I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being.
When you flip anything, you really you just have to have the courage of your convictions.
The higher man is distinguished from the lower by his fearlessness and his readiness to challenge misfortune.
Courageous people feel the same fear everyone else does, they just decide to not be afraid anymore.
I know that I am leaving the winning side for the losing side, but it is better to die on the losing side than to live under Communism.
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