I have a very different fear if I'm all alone in the summit area of Mount Everest and if I know that there is nothing below me, no Sherpa, no tent, no rope.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the profound fear of isolation in extreme situations, emphasizing the importance of support and safety.
Reinhold Messner's quote illustrates the psychological fear of being completely alone in a perilous environment, such as at the summit of Mount Everest. He highlights that without the essential safety measures and support from others, the sheer isolation can become a source of intense fear, reminding us that even the bravest endeavors require a support system to mitigate risks and provide assurance.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming personal fears in extreme situations.
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.
Come, weave us a scheme so I can pay them back! Stand beside me, Athena, fire me with daring, fierce as the day we ripped Troy's glittering crown of towers down. Stand by me - furious now as then, my bright-eyed one - and I would fight three hundred men, great goddess, with you to brace me, comrade-in-arms in battle!
Be courageous when the mind deceives you Be courageous In the final account only this is important
The only rule is, do what you really, impulsively, wish to do. But always act on your own responsibility, sincerely. And have the courage of your own strong emotion.
I learned that he that will be a hero will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work is sure of his manhood.
There is nothing about which I am more anxious than my country, and for its sake I am willing to die ten deaths, if that be possible.
When violence against women is no longer societally accepted, no longer kept secret; when everyone understands that even one case is too many. That's when it will change.
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