Becoming a 'Sir' is slightly uncomfortable at first, although it is a considerable honor. It is amazing how quickly you become accustomed to it.
Interpretation
Achieving high honors can feel daunting initially, but one soon adjusts to the new recognition.
In this quote, Edmund Hillary reflects on the experience of receiving an honor, indicating that while the initial feelings of discomfort or insecurity may arise, the recognition ultimately becomes a comfortable and familiar part of one's identity. This highlights the juxtaposition between the weight of honor and the human ability to adapt to new roles and expectations.
In practice
During a speech at a formal event, one might quote this to acknowledge the journey toward success.
I think I mainly climb mountains because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. I never attempt to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I think that all mountaineers do get a great deal of satisfaction out of overcoming some challenge which they think is very difficult for them, or which perhaps may be a little dangerous.
Despite all I have seen and experiences, I still get the same thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb toward it.
I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe.
Even when you're 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.
Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times.
I am a lucky man. I have had a dream and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.
Knowledge will not attract money, unless it is organized, and intelligently directed, through practical plans of action, to the definite end of accumulation of money.
The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don't have to ask anyone or play politics. You don't have to wait for the reviews.
Without the element of enjoyment, it is not worth trying to excel at anything.
Do you see the consequences of the way we have chosen to think about success? Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung...We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play—and by “we” I mean society—in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.
How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens.
A dark horse, which had never been thought of, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph.
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