Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who re...sembles everybody's mom in that she knows what's best for us. But if you look at the historical record--Krakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the ages--you have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
One criticizes the English for carrying their teapots wherever they go, even lugging them up Mount Etna. But doesn't every nation ...have its teapot, in which, even when traveling, it brews the dried bundles of herbs brought from home?LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Again, he felt a crude ecstasy. He could not have given the reason, but the mountain tormented him, beckoned him, held an answer t...o something he wanted. It was so pure, so austere.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I am afraid if there is anything to be afraid of. A precipice cannot hurt you. Lions and tigers can. The streets of New York I con...sider more dangerous than the Matterhorn to a thoroughly competent and careful climber.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Climbing is unadulterated hard labor. The only real pleasure is the satisfaction of going where no man has been before and where f...ew can follow.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Nothing to mountaineering, just a little physical endurance, a good deal of brains, lots of practice, and plenty of warm clothing.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »