199 Impressive, Insightful, and Inspiring Quotes about Mountains

Mountains. The very mention of the word evokes visions of lone peaks lording over entire landscapes, or of imposing heights massed together in long and lofty ranges. It brings to mind images of colossal landforms upon whose backs entire woods and forests are borne; high pinnacles akin to towers crowned with everlasting snow; and sheer and rocky summits rising towards the sky, upholding the heavens, not unlike the very roofs of the world.

Since the dawn of time, mountains have dominated not only the landscape, but also humankind. The sight of mountains have long roused the human spirit; goaded the human mind; and awakened a sense of adventure in human hearts, and longing in human souls. Their mere presence is a challenge enough; their massiveness, a provocation; and their summits, a worthwhile goal. So much so, in fact, that mountains have long become the perfect metaphors for the most challenging problems, obstacles, and endeavors in life.

Mountains have long figured in human lore, literature, and history. They have been praised, feared, and respected for their largeness, loftiness, and their sheer grandeur and majesty. Today, we have a wealth of quotes about mountains that were uttered or written by men and women who were inspired or intimidated (at times both) by those massive and majestic landforms.

If you are looking for quotes about mountains, either because you seek inspiration to help you get started on your next climbing trip; or because you need motivation to help you conquer the problems you are currently facing – your proverbial mountain, then you have come to the right place. Here is a compendium of 199 of the most impressive, insightful, and inspiring quotes about mountains. Some of these quotes are from legendary mountaineers, some from famous poets and authors, and the rest from similarly remarkable men and women. All are guaranteed to inspire in you a sense of adventure and fill you with motivation to help you climb and conquer your next mountain – both literal and metaphorical.

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1. “A lone peak of high point is a natural focal point in the landscape, something by which both travelers and local orient themselves. In the continuum of landscape, mountains are discontinuity – culminating in high points, natural barriers, unearthly earth.” – Rebecca Solnit 

2. “A single man of one, only pebbles can be moved, but many men together stands no mountain that can’t move.” – Robert M. Hensel 

3. “A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time.” – Mencius 

4. “Accidents on big mountains happen when people’s ambitions cloud their good judgment. Good climbing is about climbing with heart and with instinct, not ambition and pride.” – Bear Grylls 

5. “Achieving the summit of a mountain was tangible, immutable, concrete. The incumbent hazards lent the activity a seriousness of purpose that was sorely missing from the rest of my life. I thrilled in the fresh perspective that came from tipping the ordinary plane of existence on end.” – Jon Krakauer 

6. “Ah! How often when I have been abroad on the mountains has my heart risen in grateful praise to God that it was not my destiny to waste and pine among those noisome congregations of the city.” – John James Audubon 

7. “All mountain landscapes hold stories: the ones we read, the ones we dream, and the ones we create.” – Michael Kennedy 

8. “All mountain people are like that. No matter where you go, the mountains call you back.” – Karan Bajaj 

9. “Although I deeply love oceans, deserts and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty. They keep me continuously wanting to know more, feel more, see more.” – Victoria Erickson 

10. “Always be thankful for the little things… even the smallest mountains can hide the most breathtaking views!” – Nyki Mack 

11. “And if someday, my sons ask, ‘Dad, why did you choose to climb?’ Smiling, I’ll reply, ‘I climbed so you could fly.’” – Mekael Shane 

12. “And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth’s shore. These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that man’s weak praise should be given God’s attention.” – Donald Miller 

13. “Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test it’s a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.” – Frank Herbert 

14. “As a professional climber, that’s the question you always get: Why, why, why? It’s an ineffable thing; you can’t describe it.” – Jimmy Chin 

15. “At least now I knew that my heart was wedded to the mountains – to the wild places. It was there, and there alone, that I was whole, contented, and blissful. No relationship, career, or wealth could ever take its place.” – Heather Anderson 

16. “Be like a mountain; do not let anything disturb your inner peace.” – Debasish Mridha 

17. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac 

18. “Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.” – Jeffrey Rasley 

19. “Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing.” – Paulo Coelho 

20. “Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are nought without prudence, and that a momentary negligence may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end.” – Edward Whymper 

21. “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” – David McCullough Jr. 

22. “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings.” – John Muir 

23. “Climbing is my art; I get so much joy and gratification from it.” – Jimmy Chin 

24. “Clouds come and go, the mountain remains.” – Meeta Ahluwalia 

25. “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.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

26. “Don’t pay attention to the size of the mountain in front of you. Rather, think about what the view from the summit is going to be like.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough 

27. “Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.” – Sir Martin Convay 

28. “Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field.” – Paulo Coelho 

29. “Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” – John Lubbock 

30. “Entering a novel is like going on a climb in the mountains: You have to learn the rhythms of respiration – acquire the pace. Otherwise you stop right away.” – Umberto Eco 

31. “Ever since a small boy, I have loved just to look at the mountains, to see them in different lights and from different angles, to feel their rough rock under my fingers and the breath of the winds against my feet. I am in love with the mountains.” – Wilfrid Noyce 

32. “Every man should pull a boat over a mountain once in his life.” – Werner Herzog 

33. “Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” – Barry Finlay 

34. “Everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you’ll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what’s a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination – our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.” – Andy Andrews 

35. “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.” – Andy Rooney 

36. “Everything – even mountains, rivers, plants and trees – should be your teacher.” – Morihei Ueshiba 

37. “For me, a holiday is about taking a book and going to a mountain and reading.” – Sonam Kapoor 

38. “From a distance, it may appear that there is only one mountain. Sometimes, the distance to the first mountain is enough of a stretch before looking beyond. Life is much the same way in that we all can see at least one mountain that’s visible… Every person in every country, in every city, town, village or rural area has a mountain in their life. This mountain may take on several shapes and sizes but it is a mountain; it’s your personal mountain.” – Byron Pulsifer 

39. “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” – Ed Viesturs 

40. “Going to the mountains is going home.” – John Muir 

41. “Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street.” – William Blake 

42. “Having been bred amongst mountains I am always unhappy when in a flat country. Whenever the skirts of the horizon come on a level with myself I feel myself quite uneasy and generally have a headache.” – James Hogg 

43. “He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.” – Friedrich Nietzsche 

44. “Highest of heights, I climb this mountain and feel one with the rock and grit and solitude echoing back at me.” – Bradley Chicho 

45. “How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!” – John Muir 

46. “Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

47. “I’m a person of the mountains and the open paddocks and the big empty sky, that’s me, and I knew if I spent too long away from all that I’d die; I don’t know what of, I just knew I’d die.” – John Marsden 

48. “I’m always looking for a new challenge. There are a lot of mountains to climb out there. When I run out of mountains, I’ll build a new one.” – Sylvester Stallone 

49. “I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.” – John Muir 

50. “I’m part wood nymph. I require mountains and warm, dense patches of moss to thrive.” – Vera Farmiga 

51. “I ascended the mountains to hear the voice of God, and was answered in echoes from afar.” – Meeta Ahluwalia 

52. “I believe that the ascent of mountains forms an essential chapter in the complete duty of man, and that it is wrong to leave any district without setting foot on its highest peak.” – Sir Leslie Stephen 

53. “I can’t do with mountains at close quarters – they are always in the way, and they are so stupid, never moving and never doing anything but obtrude themselves.” – D. H. Lawrence 

54. “I don’t want to write about climbing or talk about it, or photograph it; or think about it; all I want to do is do it.” – Chuck Pratt 

55. “I’ve realized that at the top of the mountain, there’s another mountain.” – Andrew Garfield 

56. “I learn something every time I go into the mountains.” – Michael Kennedy 

57. “’I like the mountains because they make me feel small,’ Jeff says. ‘They help me sort out what’s important in life.’” – Mark Obmascik 

58. “I love to sit on a mountain top and gaze. I don’t think of anything but the people I care about and the view.” – Julian Lennon 

59. “I take all day to climb mountains and then spend about 10 minutes at the top admiring the view.” – Sebastian Thrun 

60. “I think, every time I’m on the mountain, I’m just so thankful to be there.” – Chloe Kim 

61. “I think I mainly climb mountains because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of it. I never attempt to analyze these things too thoroughly, but I think that all mountaineers do get a great deal of satisfaction out of overcoming some challenge which they think is very difficult for them, or which perhaps may be a little dangerous.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

62. “I want to see sunrises in the mountains. You never get to see such things enough in a lifetime. I want to see more.” – Katarina Witt 

63. “I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God, than in church thinking about the mountains.” – John Muir 

64. “If adventure has a final and all-embracing motive, it is surely this: we go out because it is our nature to go out, to climb mountains, and to paddle rivers, to fly to the planets and plunge into the depths of the oceans… When man ceases to do these things, he is no longer man.” – Wilfrid Noyce 

65. “If people want to go do some big outdoor thing for their ego, have them climb snowy mountains rather than shoot animals.” – Conrad Anker 

66. “If we never go through any valleys how will we know when we’ve reached a mountain top? How will we know if the mountain is even any good if all our lives we stay up on the mountain and never experience any valleys? I know we’d all like to avoid those “valleys” at all costs, but the most growth for anything happens during adversity.” – Kim Bloomer 

67. “If you are faced with a mountain, you have several options. You can climb it and cross to the other side. You can go around it. You can dig under it. You can fly over it. You can blow it up. You can ignore it and pretend it’s not there. You can turn around and go back the way you came. Or you can stay on the mountain and make it your home.” – Vera Nazarian 

68. “If you despise the mountains you have climbed, you are not welcomed by the mountains you have not yet climbed!” – Mehmet Murat ildan 

69. “If you want to train for big mountain endeavors, spend time in big mountains.” – Jimmy Chin 

70. “In the mountains, there are only two grades: you can either do it, or you can’t.” – Rusty Baillie 

71. “In the mountains, you are sometimes invited, sometimes tolerated, and sometimes told to go home.” – Fred Beckey 

72. “In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.” – Robert Green Ingersoll 

73. “Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?” – Kahlil Gibran 

74. “It’s a heavy burden to look up at the mountain and want to start the climb.” – Abby Wambach 

75. “It is not enough to sing when the sun shines, and the road lies level. We must learn to sing most lustily when the light fades, and the mountain is steep.” – Brad Hanson 

76. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali 

77. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

78. “It’s the uncertainty, the challenge and the willingness to put it all on the line that draws a lot of people to climb mountains. That can also apply to a lot of other challenges in life, whether it’s running for office, starting a family, going to grad school or taking all of your cash and assets and starting a business.” – Mark Udall 

79. “It’s wonderful to be back. Back among the mountains that remind us of our vulnerability, our ultimate lack of control over the world we live in. Mountains that demand humility, and yield so much peace in return.” – Alex Lowe 

80. “It’s wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky. Behind me and before me is God and I have no fears.” – Helen Keller 

81. “It is worth ascending unexiting heights if for nothing else than to see the big ones from nearer their own level.” – Nan Shepherd 

82. “Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can’t fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.” – Jack Kerouac 

83. “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir 

84. “Let’s not mince words: Everest doesn’t attract a whole lot of well-balanced folks. The self-selection process tends to weed out the cautious and the sensible in favor of those who are single-minded and incredibly driven. Which is a big reason the mountain is so dangerous.” – Jon Krakauer 

85. “Life’s a bit like mountaineering – never look down.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

86. “Life sucks a lot less when you add mountain air, a campfire and some peace and quiet.” – Brooke Hampton 

87. “Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance toward the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.” – Harold B. Melchart 

88. “Man can climb to the highest summits, but he cannot dwell there long.” – George Bernard Shaw 

89. “May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.” – Harley King 

90. “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Edward Abbey 

91. “Men climb mountains, scale heights, venture into the unexplored to prove to other men it can be done.” – Mother Angelica 

92. “Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains.” – Marilyn French 

93. “Mountains, according to the angle of view, the season, the time of day, the beholder’s frame of mind, or any one thing, can effectively change their appearance. Thus, it is essential to recognize that we can never know more than one side, one small aspect of a mountain.” – Haruki Murakami 

94. “Mountains are earth’s undecaying monuments.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne 

95. “Mountains are freedom. Treat them respectfully.” – Conrad Anker 

96. “Mountains are like the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who anyone is or what they do.” – Jimmy Chin 

97. “Mountains are not fair or unfair, they are just dangerous.” – Reinhold Messner 

98. “Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” – Anatoli Boukreev 

99. “Mountains are only a problem when they are bigger than you. You should develop yourself so much that you become bigger than the mountains you face.” – Idowu Koyenikan 

100. “Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.” – John Ruskin 

101. “Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.” – Nemann Buhl 

102. “Mountains know the secrets we need to learn. That it might take time, it might be hard, but if you just hold on long enough, you will find the strength to rise up.” – Tyler Knott Gregson 

103. “Mountains teach that not everything in this world can be rationally explained.” – Aleksander Lwow 

104. “Mountains terrify me – they just sit about; they are so proud.” – Sylvia Plath 

105. “Mountains will go into labour, and a silly little mouse will be born.” – Horace 

106. “My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” – Aldous Huxley 

107. “Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.” – Dag Hammarskjold 

108. “Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.” – John Muir 

109. “No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” – Ansel Adams 

110. “No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.” – Emily Kay McAllister 

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

112. “No matter what happens, I can go back to the mountains. I have nature and my wonderful friends and neighbors. I get so much by being there.” –Lizz Wright 

113. “No single mountain ever came to me…
     so I always go to them.” – Erik Tanghe 

114. “No summit is as high as the summit you tried to reach and failed!” – Mehmet Murat ildan 

115. “Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God.” – John Muir 

116. “On climbs, there is a general way we manage fear. We look at things objectively, separating out perceived risk from real risk. You can really bring down the level of fear by knowing the real risks and setting aside the others. You also know that panicking just makes things worse.” – Jimmy Chin 

117. “On life and peaks it is the same. With strength we win the grail, but courage is the thing we need to face the downward trail.” – Jacob Clifford Moomaw 

118. “On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.” – Friedrich Nietzsche 

119. “On tops of mountains, as everywhere to hopeful souls, it is always morning.” – Henry David Thoreau 

120. “One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time.” – Barbara Walters 

121. “Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb. And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.” – Kahlil Gibran 

122. “Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” – Theodore Roethke 

123. “People ask me, ‘What is the use of climbing Mount Everest?’ and my answer must at once be, ‘It is of no use.’ There is not the slightest prospect of any gain whatsoever. Oh, we may learn a little about the behaviour of the human body at high altitudes, and possibly medical men may turn our observation to some account for the purposes of aviation. But otherwise nothing will come of it. We shall not bring back a single bit of gold or silver, not a gem, nor any coal or iron… If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go. What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to live. That is what life means and what life is for.” – George Mallory 

124. “Purposes, plans, and achievements of men may all disappear like yon cloud upon the mountain’s summit; but, like the mountain itself, the things which are of God shall stand fast for ever and ever.” – Charles Spurgeon 

125. “Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking. You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” – Cindy Ross 

126. “So this was what a mountain was like, the same as a person: the more you know, the less you fear.” – Wu Ming-Yi 

127. “Sometimes, you climb the mountain, and you fall and fail. Maybe there is a different path that will take you up. Sometimes a different mountain.” – Caterina Fake 

128. “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” – Greg Child 

129. “The choices we make lead up to actual experiences. It is one thing to decide to climb a mountain. It is quite another to be on top of it.” – Herbert A. Simon 

130. “The cliché is that life is a mountain. You go up, reach the top and then go down.” – Jeanne Moreau 

131. “The climb speaks to our character, but the view, I think, to our souls.” – Lori Lansens 

132. “The destruction of the natural beauty, the ecosystems, and the majesty of mountains affect us in ways we’re not even aware of. Every time a mountain is beheaded, we chop off a little part of our souls.” – Gloria Reuben 

133. “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain – he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem – he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills.” – William Arthur Ward 

134. “The greatest gift of life on the mountain is time. Time to think or not think, read or not read, scribble or not scribble — to sleep and cook and walk in the woods, to sit and stare at the shapes of the hills. I produce nothing but words; I consume nothing but food, a little propane, a little firewood. By being utterly useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself.” – Philip Connors 

135. “The greatest joy in climbing is to be in charge of one’s own destiny.” – Sir Chris Bonnington 

136. “The greatness of a mountain comes neither from its height nor from its massive mass; but his greatness comes from the calm of his stance against the harsh conditions of life!” – Mehmet Murat ildan 

137. “The higher you climb on the mountain, the harder the wind blows.” – Sam Cummings 

138. “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.” – George Leigh Mallory 

139. “The mainstream audience has a certain picture of what climbing is all about: man conquering mountain. But you can’t conquer a mountain, though it may conquer you.” – Jimmy Chin 

140. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius 

141. “The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.” – Rabindranath Tagore 

142. “The mountains are a demanding, cold place, and they don’t allow for mistakes.” – Conrad Anker 

143. “The mountains are calling and I must go.” – John Muir 

144. “The mountains have rules. They are harsh rules, but they are there, and if you keep to them you are safe. A mountain is not like men. A mountain is sincere. The weapons to conquer it exist inside you, inside your soul.” – Walter Bonatti 

145. “The mountains here contained a sense of time, geologic time. They lay in embryo, a process unfolding, or a shriveled dying perhaps. They had the look of naked events.” – Don DeLillo 

146. “The mountains seem to have conquered us long before we set foot on them, and they will remain long after our brief existence. This indomitable force of the mountains gives us humans a blank canvas on which to paint the drive of discovery and, in the process, test the limits of human performance.” – Conrad Anker 

147. “This mountain, the arched back of the earth risen before us, it made me feel humble, like a beggar, just lucky to be here at all, even briefly.” – Bridget Asher 

148. “The mountains, the forest, and the sea, render men savage; they develop the fierce, but yet do not destroy the human.” – Victor Hugo 

149. “The mountains themselves call us into greater stories.” – Donald Miller 

150. “The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change.” – Thomas Wolfe 

151. “The mountains were so wild and so stark and so very beautiful that I wanted to cry. I breathed in another wonderful moment to keep safe in my heart.” – Jane Wilson-Howarth 

152. “The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” – Robert M. Pirsig 

153. “The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no “meaning,” they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share. I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day.” – Peter Matthiessen 

154. “The stillness on the mountain top is only disrupted by the sound of my heartbeat within my ears.” – Anthony T. Hincks 

155. “The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.” – Conrad Anker 

156. “The top of one mountain is always the bottom of another.” – Marianne Williamson 

157. “The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.” – Tennessee Williams 

158. “The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself. The moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far.” – Paulo Coelho 

159. “There are two kinds of climbers: those who climb because their heart sings when they’re in the mountains, and all the rest.” – Alex Lowe 

160. “There’s no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It’s experiencing the climb itself – in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue – that has to be the goal.” – Karyn Kusama 

161. “There is no such sense of solitude as that which we experience upon the silent and vast elevations of great mountains. Lifted high above the level of human sounds and habitations, among the wild expanses and colossal features of Nature, we are thrilled in our loneliness with a strange fear and elation – an ascent above the reach of life’s expectations or companionship, and the tremblings of a wild and undefined misgivings.” – Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 

162. “There’s only one way to gain mountain sense, and that’s to be in the mountains a lot.” – Alex Lowe 

163. “Those at the top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” – Marcus Washling 

164. “Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves, and half in love with oblivion.” – Robert Macfarlane 

165. “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” – John Muir 

166. “To aim for the highest point is not the only way to climb a mountain.” – Nan Shepherd 

167. “To prepare for the mountains develop mind, body, will and spirit as strong as a sword, soft as a pillow and fluid as water.” – Jeffery Rasley 

168. “Today, climbing has shown me a courageous, strong side of myself, a beautiful bravery. Other days I’ve seen pitiful weakness. I’ve watched myself crawl, belly-flat, across a mountainous landscape of fear. Climbing has shown me that I am all of these things: strong and weak, brave and cowardly, both immune to and at the mercy of the fear of death, all at the same time. Risk is the fee to learn these lessons. The cost is not negotiable. It is a price that, for now, I pay gladly.” – Steve House 

169. “Walking in the mountains helps me unwind, but it also reminds me in a painful way that the real beauty in life is nature and animals, and that the human race, in all its arrogance, is intent on destroying it.” – Sylvie Guillem 

170. “We all need to plant seeds in order to spring to life. Similarly, you can’t climb a mountain starting at the top. It takes preparation, tools, skills and a set path to follow one step at a time.” – Catherine Pulsifer 

171. “We are in the world where the longing mountains are the most grounded.” – Sorin Cerin 

172. “We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.” – John Muir 

173. “We can scale the heights of mountains and see the world rayed out before us, but we fail to recognize that which is before us.” – Ruth St. Denis 

174. “What are men to rocks and mountains?” – Jane Austen 

175. “What draws us from the low valleys to the high mountains is that noble stance of the summits!” – Mehmet Murat ildan 

176. “What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain.” – Victor Hugo 

177. “When faced with a large project, remember you move a mountain one stone at a time.” – Catherine Pulsifer 

178. “When preparing to climb a mountain – pack a light heart.” – Dan May 

179. “When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome.” – Wilma Rudolph 

180. “When we tire of well-worn ways, we seek for new. This restless craving in the souls of men spurs them to climb, and to seek the mountain view.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

181. “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.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

182. “When you scale a mountain, you have to leave your ego at home.” – Anthony T. Hincks 

183. “When you stand at the bottom of the mountain and look up at the mountaintop, the path looks hard and stony, and the top is obscured by clouds. But when you reach the top and you look down, you realize that there are a thousand paths that could have brought you to that place.” – Roz Savage 

184. “While mountains provide us with challenge and nourish our spirits, they are also powerful and potentially destructive places that must be respected.” – Mike Hamill 

185. “While on top of Everest, I looked across the valley towards the great peak Makalu and mentally worked out a route about how it could be climbed. It showed me that even though I was standing on top of the world, it wasn’t the end of everything. I was still looking beyond to other interesting challenges.” – Sir Edmund Hillary 

186. “Without mountains, we might find ourselves relieved that we can avoid the pain of the ascent, but we will forever miss the thrill of the summit. And in such a terribly scandalous trade-off, it is the absence of pain that becomes the thief of life.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough 

187. “Yet often the mountain gives itself most completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him.” – Nan Shepherd 

188. “You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you.” – John Muir 

189. “You’re off to Great Places!
     Today is your day!
     Your mountain is waiting,
     .. get on your way!” – Dr. Seuss 

190. “You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.” – Pink 

191. “You can’t prepare for the summits by wandering through the valleys! The only way to get to the top is to get away from the valleys!” – Mehmet Murat ildan 

192. “You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” – Rene Daumal 

193. “You don’t climb mountains without a team, you don’t climb mountains without being fit, you don’t climb mountains without being prepared and you don’t climb mountains without balancing the risks and rewards. And you never climb a mountain on accident – it has to be intentional.” – Mark Udall 

194. “You don’t need to climb a mountain to know that it’s high.” – Paulo Coelho 

195. “You get used to sadness, growing up in the mountains, I guess.” – Loretta Lynn 

196. “You need mountains, long staircases don’t make good hikers.” – Amit Kalantri 

197. “You need special shoes for hiking—and a bit of a special soul as well.” – Terri Guillemets 

198. “You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” – Lito Tejada-Flores 

199. “You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.” – Tom Hiddleston