It’s all bullshit on Everest these days. — Edmund Hillary

Some day I’m going to climb Everest. — Edmund Hillary

On the summit of Everest, I had a feeling of great satisfaction to be first there. — Edmund Hillary

Ever since the morning of May 29, 1953, when Tenzing Norgay and I became the first climbers to step onto the summit of Mount Everest, I’ve been called a great adventurer. — Edmund Hillary

I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest and my trips to the poles. But there’s no doubt that my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics. — Edmund Hillary

Everest you won’t change, but I will get better…I will conquer you. — Edmund Hillary

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. — Edmund Hillary

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it. — Edmund Hillary

Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it. — Edmund Hillary

My relationship with the mountains actually started when I was 16. Every year, a group used to be taken from Auckland Grammar down to the Tangariro National Park for a skiing holiday. — Edmund Hillary

No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time. — Edmund Hillary

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about dying, but I like to think that I’ve–if it did occur–that I would die peacefully and not make too much of a fuss about it. — Edmund Hillary

I found fear stimulating. Particularly after you’ve done something that you’d been frightened of at the time, but you carried through and did the job. — Edmund Hillary

Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I’ll beat you the next time because you’ve grown all you are going to grow… but I’m still growing! — Edmund Hillary

I did have my moments of despair. It was certainly not–it’s not an experience I would like to have again. And then June came along. — Edmund Hillary

I like to think of Everest as a great mountaineering challenge, and when you’ve got people just streaming up the mountain–well, many of them are just climbing it to get their name in the paper, really. — Edmund Hillary

I was scared many times on Everest, but this is all part of the challenge. When I fell down a crevasse, it was pretty scary. — Edmund Hillary

When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them. — Edmund Hillary

Challenge is what makes men. It will be the end when men stop looking for new challenges. — Edmund Hillary

There is precious little in civilization to appeal to a Yeti. — Edmund Hillary

I hate being called an ‘icon.’ I just don’t like it. That’s all there is to it. — Edmund Hillary

When you’re climbing at high altitudes, life can get pretty miserable. — Edmund Hillary

The truth is, I’m just a rough old New Zealander who has enjoyed many challenges in his life. — Edmund Hillary

Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain. — Edmund Hillary

We had so much in common [with June Hillary] that we just carried on with life as we had been doing. It wasn’t easy, but it was–I realise now that it was the only thing to do. — Edmund Hillary

My grandmother I admired even more [than mother]. She was an Irish lady and a very kind–hearted person. She had a lot of talent, she painted extremely well. She was quite a strong factor in my life. — Edmund Hillary

June [Hillary] is a very strong influence in my life and particularly now in my ancient years there is no doubt at all: if there’s a decision to be made, quite often June is the one who makes it. — Edmund Hillary

I never talk about being leaders and all the rest of it. I can only remember one or two occasions in my life when I actually issued orders, and I felt thoroughly miserable after doing it. — Edmund Hillary

Motivation is the single most important factor in any sort of success. — Edmund Hillary

When I was climbing, I built up a close relationship with the Sherpa people. — Edmund Hillary

I’ve always hated the danger part of climbing, and it’s great to come down again because it’s safe. — Edmund Hillary

Many people have been getting too casual about climbing Everest. I forecast a disaster many times. — Edmund Hillary

I enjoyed climbing with other people, good friends, but I did quite a lot of solo climbing, too. — Edmund Hillary