The true alpinist doesn't want any infrastructure, he wants to go into the wild. And the odds of getting killed there are relatively high. And most people are sensible enough not to want that.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the adventurous spirit of true alpinists who seek the thrill of the wild, accepting the inherent dangers involved.
Reinhold Messner highlights the essence of true alpinism: a deep desire to explore untamed nature without reliance on modern infrastructure. While this pursuit carries a significant risk of danger, it is this very challenge that distinguishes genuine adventurers from those who play it safe, reflecting a courage that embraces uncertainty and the sublime beauty of the wilderness.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire fellow climbers and adventurers during motivational talks.
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.
Sometimes I have to run and hide. What I do at home sometimes is, I listen to a CD of the roughness of the ocean. I turn every light off, and I turn the stereo on, and I just go in my mind, cry, talk to God, tell him, 'I'm your child, too.' And I stay in my little solitude until I can get the strength to go outdoors.
Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell.
There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk ‘his life, his fortune and his sacred honor’ on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else.
Everything is scary if you look at it. So you just got to live.
I had to walk away from America, and say goodbye to the biggest part of my career, because I knew otherwise my demons would get the better of me.
Of men who have a sense of honor, more come through alive than are slain, but from those who flee comes neither glory nor any help.
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