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.
What is required to face trauma is the ability to mourn, fully and deeply, all that has been taken from us. Only through mourning everything we have lost can we discover that we have in fact survived; that our spirits are indestructible.
Every time I tell my story, I feel that I am taking some power away from the terrorists.
When fear rushed in, I learned how to hear my heart racing but refused to allow my feelings to sway me. That resilience came from my family. It flowed through our bloodline.
I have never been sorry when I stood for what was right-even against severe criticism.
I call upon you to draw from the depths of your being - to prove that we are a human race, to prove that our love outweighs our need to hate, that our compassion is more compelling than our need to blame.
I may fall here in the Senate chamber, but I will. never make any compromise with any such men.
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