Quote

I had gained so much confidence through my college achievements that I wanted to tackle the world.

Gymnastics, for me, gave me a lot of self-pride: that drive to want to be great at something for myself. But it also gave me a sense of appreciation toward God. Now that I'm getting older, I really appreciate the talents God gave me. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

I always believed in myself, and even in the bad times, when I'd do bits of greatness here and there, it was those kinds of things that kept me alive and helped me to get to where I am now.

When I was 23, I went to Alaska by myself into the glaciers of the coast range and climbed a mountain by myself. It was incredibly reckless, incredibly stupid. But I was lucky. And I survived, and I came back to tell my story.

I became to myself an imaginary figure of great excellence, daring and glamor.

The greatest feeling of accomplishment for me is the fact that I was an athlete who was somewhat disabled.

Over the years, I had nurtured the hope to be able to fly; to handle a machine as it rose higher and higher in the stratosphere was my dearest dream.

I flew aeroplanes, parachuted, walked on my own across the Himalayas - you name it; if it was dangerous, I did it.

Climbing Mount Everest was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I wish I'd never gone. I suffered for years of PTSD and still suffer from what happened. I'm glad I wrote a book about it. But, you know, if I could go back and relive my life, I would never have climbed Everest.

In army, I went to Kashmir and did well, which was a challenge. In sports, I went to Olympics at a time when no one believed that we can actually win. Coming into politics was also a challenge as I wanted to push the youth to achieve gold in various fields of life.