A journey, I reflected, is of no merit unless it has tested you.

Contemplation is a luxury, requiring time and alternatives.

Most journeys have a clear beginning, but on some the ending is less well-defined. The question is, at what point do you bite your lip and head for home?

I felt sure we could gain the upper hand by putting ourselves in the mindset of the Incas.

Usually, there is nothing more pleasing that returning to a place where you have endured hardship.

In moments of great uncertainty on my travels, I have always felt that something is protecting me, that I will come to no harm.

There's nothing like a pack of mules to give one a sense of entourage.

The first rule of an expedition is that everyone should stick together.

When I am about to embark on a difficult journey, I comfort myself by reading the accounts of the great nineteenth-century travellers, men like Stanley, Burton, Speke, Burckhardt and Barth.

[T]hrough bitter experience I have learned that it is best to promise little and then to reward hard work with generosity.

Money spent on good-quality gear is always money well spent.

Music moves the body, soul and spirit to the bliss.

A long time ago people believed that the world is flat and the moon is made of green cheese. Some still do, to this day. The man on the moon is looking down and laughing.

What we have not chosen we cannot consider either to our merit or our failure.

Some of the most important lessons I've learned have been from stumbling, and I am deeply grateful that my parents allowed me to fight my own battles.

These words are now mine, but soon they’ll be ours.

For most of my life I have known how to control my feelings. If you can control your feelings, you can pretty much control your whole world. It's amazingly effective.

There is no need to express art in terms of nature. It can perfectly well be expressed in terms of geometry and the exact sciences.

It's easier not to love. Beware of the easy path this day.

I've been very lucky as far as the things that I've picked, and the way they've worked out. I try to pass on stuff that looks like it's gonna be a bad time.

When you truly love yourself, you don't have enemies. They may hate you but you're too big to hate them back.