Because It's There. (when Asked Why He

For The Stone From The Top For Geologists, The Knowledge Of The Limits Of Endurance For The Doctors, But Above All For The Spirit Of Adventure To Keep Alive The Soul Of Man.

The Highest Of The World's Mountains, It Seems, Has To Make But A Single Gesture Of Magnificence To Be The Lord Of All, Vast In Unchallenged And Isolated Supremacy.

We Don't Live To Eat And Make Money. We Eat And Make Money To Be Able To Enjoy Life. That Is What Life Means, And That Is What Life Is For.

Because It Is There [famous Explanation For Wanting To Climb Mount Everest].

Gradually, Very Gradually, We Saw The Great Mountain Sides And Glaciers And Aretes, Now One Fragment And Now Another Through The Floating Rifts, Until Far Higher In The Sky Than Imagination Had Dared To Suggest The White Summit Of Everest Appeared.