I have a very different fear if I'm all alone in the summit area of Mount Everest and if I know that there is nothing below me, no Sherpa, no tent, no rope.

All nationalism is dangerous; all religions are dangerous.

Mountains are not fair or unfair - they are dangerous.

I am a South Tyrolean. I identify with this land.

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.

The cliches that circulate in the German media about Joachim Sauer are a total fallacy. The fact is that he's his own man. He's witty, he's profound, he can be incredibly funny, and he's an extremely bright guy.

An account of an expedition is not a novel. Therefore an authentic account can never be given, let alone written down by someone who was not present.

The mountains are dangerous. Only an unintelligent person will say they are not dangerous.

First, I am afraid to die and I love to live. But an adventure is only an adventure when there is the threat of dying.

There are periods on the mountain when you exist between living and dying, sometimes for days. I went through that with my brother on Nanga Parbat. It is very difficult, but it is the most intense experience. And always after such experiences, when I was back among people, I felt I had been reborn.

The art of climbing is the art of survival. The best climber is the man or woman going in the most crazy places but surviving.

There is no joy involved in climbing mountains, there is simply the challenge, the self-invented challenge, the play.

I am not so famous. I'm known in a few countries like Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and around the Alps. Some climbers in Beijing know my name, and some in America, but I am not really famous. It's very relative, my fame.

I have the feeling that behind a certain dimension we cannot anymore see, understand, feel, smell, hear - nothing. What people are calling God I am not defining, but I am a 'possibilitiest.'

My brother is in me. When we remember somebody else, in a certain way they are still alive. I see my brother - he is still young - looking to the Dolomites where we did our ascents. I remember those moments, so he is still together with me.

In politics, you have to compromise from morning to evening. Democracy is the art of compromise.

I was always at my best when I was learning, when I was curious. When I had yet to see past the next horizon.

Around half of the top alpinists have died climbing. Of course if I'm careful and turn back more often than the others, I can increase my chances of survival. But if I hadn't been lucky a few times, I wouldn't be here.

Before kids, I was really going to the limit. Afterwards, I was approaching the limit but then maybe turning around.

I'm a rock climber, a high-altitude climber, an adventurer, a storyteller through my museums, and a writer of more than 50 books.

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.'

For me, imagination is more important in climbing than muscle or daredevil antics.

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.

Fame is very heavy. When there are large crowds, I'm unable to handle it.