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I always wanted to be an explorer, but - it seemed I was doomed to be nothing more than a very silly person.

Very often, human beings are living like on autopilot, reacting automatically with what happens. What interests me about the life of an explorer is you are in the unknown; you are out of your habits.

I always thought of myself as some sort of athlete until I started playing golf a couple years ago.

I know that I was put on this planet to be an athlete.

I may not have proved a great explorer, but we have done the greatest march ever made and come very near to great success.

I'm a golfer - not an athlete.

When you're an athlete, you've got the horse blinders on pretty thick. Your exploration of other things in life tends to be limited because you have to have such a focus on what you're doing. I wasn't a good enough player to stray from that focus and still keep my ability.

I've become quite a serious explorer: I've been to Everest three times; I'm the oldest man to reach the North Pole; and I've just been to the lost world of Venezuela.