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I can't do with mountains at close quarters - they are always in the way, and they are so stupid, never moving and never doing anything but obtrude themselves.

Some men storm imaginary Alps all their lives, and die in the foothills cursing difficulties which do not exist.

Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose their direction and begin to bend.

Natural Selection never made it come to pass, as a habit of nature, that an unsupported stone should move downwards rather than upwards. It applies to no part of inorganic nature, and is very limited even in the phenomena of organic life.

Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles.

You can't move mountains by whispering at them.

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe.

Men have looked upon the desert as barren land, the free holding of whoever chose; but in fact each hill and valley in it had a man who was its acknowledged owner and would quickly assert the right of his family or clan to it, against aggression.

When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them.