Climbing is not a competition, and you cannot talk in terms of 'greatest,' it means nothing.
Interpretation
Climbing should be seen as a personal journey rather than a competition with others.
Reinhold Messner emphasizes that the act of climbing should not be measured against others or compared to notions of who is the 'greatest.' Instead, it is a deeply personal experience that focuses on individual growth, challenges, and the connection with the mountains rather than the accolades or rankings one might achieve in a competitive context.
In practice
Use this quote in a motivational speech to inspire climbers to focus on their personal growth.
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.
This England never did, nor never shall, _x000D_ _x000D_ Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror.
Devotion to the truth is the hallmark of morality; there is no greater, nobler, more heroic form of devotion than the act of a man who assumes the responsibility of thinking.
By adopting the control strategy, the nation's environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth.
Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.
We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.
Hearing Mass is the ceremony I most favor during my travels. Church is the only place where someone speaks to me and I do not have to answer back.
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