I like Nietzsche. I quote him in many of my books. He was born 100 years before me.

I am my own home, and my handkerchief is my flag.

Climbing is all about freedom, the freedom to go beyond all the rules and take a chance, to experience something new, to gain insight into human nature.

I have been in the most dangerous of places just in order to survive. An intelligent man would stay in a safe place to survive.

By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are.

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.

I can't tell people to love mountains. They have to find their own way.

I am not made for lonely expeditions. In the sixties, I climbed during the day so I wouldn't have to be alone. I finally learned to stay up for weeks in the high altitude all by my own without being afraid.

Once you lose your credibility, you can never restore it.

A good expedition doesn't need a leader at all. You are deciding day by day, discussing it in a democratic way.

A tourist follows a trail; a mountaineer finds one.

Life is about daring to carry out your ideas. And for me, it always comes back to the wilderness, nature, mountains.

I am not so proud to climb all the 8,000-meter peaks, but I was proud to climb Nanga Parbat solo. That was the most elegant thing I did.

On your own, relying on yourself, you will never feel you are stronger than the mountain, and your respect for the peak grows.

Gunther and I always shared the work. Each of us carried his own sleeping bag and tent, and porters carried the rest, until the highest camp, when we were on our own. Nobody helped us up there.

I am not an anarchist, but I am anarchistical.

When I held in my hands the remains of Gunther, I had a strong feeling, like a phantom pain of an amputee.

The Slovenians are the very best climbers in the world.

The art of climbing is to go where you go knowing that you could die, but you don't die. That is adventure.

People don't like reality, they like crazy stories.

All the Yeti footprints are all the same bear. The Yeti isn't a fantastic figure. The Yeti is reality.

At 30 I was not quiet enough inside myself. At 40 I was not rich enough. At 50 I was still hoping to change the world.

Crossing the Gobi was a real milestone for me.

The best climbers no longer go to the 8000ers, but to the most difficult mountains in the world which are 6000 or 7000-meter-peaks. There they find any kind of playground. But it is a pity that the really good climbers have fewer opportunities to finance their expeditions because so much attention is taken away by the Everest tourists.