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Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics and others with a shaky hold on reality.
Jon Krakauer
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote highlights the diverse and often unconventional individuals drawn to climbing Everest, suggesting a mix of ambition and delusion.

Jon Krakauer's quote captures the allure of Mount Everest, which attracts a wide array of climbers, including those who may not have a realistic grasp of the dangers involved. It implies a critique of the motivations behind climbing the world's highest peak, portraying a landscape populated by dreamers and thrill-seekers who may be blinded by their aspirations, often putting themselves at risk in pursuit of fame or adventure.

Themes

EverestClimbingAmbitionAdventureReality

In practice

Example use cases

Use this quote to discuss the motivations behind ambitious pursuits in an adventure sports seminar.

More from Jon Krakauer

I knew that you couldn't make a living simply writing about the outdoors, so I made an effort from the beginning of my freelance career to write about other subjects.
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Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable.
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He read a lot. He used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often. A couple of times I tried to tell him it was a mistake to get too deep into that kind of stuff, but Alex got stuck on things. He always had to know the absolute right answer before he could go on to the next thing.
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Having stumbled upon a tolerable career, for the first time in my life I was actually living above the poverty line. My hunger to climb had been blunted, in short, by a bunch of small satisfactions that added up to something like happiness.
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The way Everest is guided is very different from the way other mountains are guided, and it flies in the face of values I hold dear: self-reliance, taking responsibility for what you do, making your own decisions, trusting your judgment - the kind of judgment that comes only through paying your dues, through experience.
Jon KrakauerRead
Mountains make poor receptacles for dreams.
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