I believe that of all the things I have done, exciting though many of them have been, there's no doubt in my mind that the most worthwhile have been the establishing of schools and hospitals, and the rebuilding of monasteries in the mountains.
Interpretation
Edmund Hillary emphasizes that his greatest contributions are in education and health rather than in adventure.
In this quote, Edmund Hillary reflects on his life's work with a focus on the lasting impact of establishing schools and hospitals. He prioritizes these humanitarian efforts over his adventurous exploits, suggesting that true fulfillment comes from helping others and contributing to society, particularly in the realms of education and health care.
In practice
In a speech about philanthropy, one might quote Hillary to emphasize the importance of service.
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.
Young film makers should learn how to deal with the money and learn how to deal with the power structure. Because it is like a battle.
A parent or a teacher has only his lifetime; a good book can teach forever.
The man that I named the Giver passed along to the boy knowledge, history, memories, color, pain, laughter, love, and truth. Every time you place a book in the hands of a child, you do the same thing. It is very risky. But each time a child opens a book, he pushes open the gate that separates him from Elsewhere. It gives him choices. It gives him freedom. Those are magnificent, wonderfully unsafe things. [from her Newberry Award acceptance speech]
Having enough to eat, being able to educate your children, have reasonably stable employment, and being able to live in a society which isn't collapsing around you-all of these things have been generally eroded.
For truly it is to be noted, that children's plays are not sports, and should be deemed as their most serious actions.
Our true birthplace is that in which we cast for the first time an intelligent eye on ourselves. My first homelands were my books.
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