Anyone who ever witnessed Ueli Steck flying up the Eigerwand would know that he was always in control of his actions. He was always moving with immense precision and a sense of safety.
Interpretation
The quote highlights Ueli Steck's exceptional skill and control while climbing, emphasizing the importance of precision and safety in challenging endeavors.
Reinhold Messner's quote reflects on the remarkable abilities of Ueli Steck, particularly in how he approached the daunting Eigerwand. It suggests that true mastery in any endeavor requires not just athleticism but also an acute awareness and control over one's actions, blending precision with safety to conquer seemingly insurmountable challenges. This serves as a reminder that skillful execution is essential in moments of pressure.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming fears and mastering skills.
I became famous for the fact that I would break many, many limits. People said, 'He does all these crazy things.' But oddly it was a crazy thing only because scientists and climbers said, 'Everest and the 8,000-meter peaks without oxygen - impossible. Messner is becoming sick in his head.'
A 30-year-old rock climber is an old man. At 40, one is in the middle of his high-altitude power. At 50, a crosser of deserts is at his best age. But at 60, each of us is out of the game.
I think my cultural work is more important than the adventures I did. The adventures are not important for human beings. It's the conquering of the useless.
In mountaineering, there is not only the activity, but the philosophy behind it. Some say a moral, but I am against that because all morality is dangerous.
I was the first man to climb the world's 14 tallest peaks without supplementary oxygen, but I never asked how high I would go, just how I would do it.
In my state of spiritual abstraction, I no longer belong to myself and to my eyesight. I am nothing more than a single narrow gasping lung, floating over the mists and summits.
Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.
One of the biggest ways we don't support ourselves is by not asking for support. Asking can take courage, but the reward is immense.
Every woman who thinks she is the only victim of violence has to know that there are many more.
Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won where the way leads to the cross.
It's been a struggle for me because I had a chance to be white and refused.
I say: The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland.
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