I Was Dimly Aware That I Might

Everest Has Always Been A Magnet For Kooks, Publicity Seekers, Hopeless Romantics And Others With A Shaky Hold On Reality.

Children Can Be Harsh Judges When It Comes To Their Parents, Disinclined To Grant Clemency.

Hours Slide By Like Minutes. The Accumulated Clutter Of Day-to-day Existence — The Lapses Of Conscience, The Unpaid Bills, The Bungled Opportunities, The Dust Under The Couch, The Inescapable Prison Of Your Genes — All Of It Is Temporarily Forgotten, Crowded From Your Thoughts By An Overpowering Clarity Of Purpose And By The Seriousness Of The Task At Hand.

It Is Easy, When You Are Young, To Believe That What You Desire Is No Less Than What You Deserve, To Assume That If You Want Something Badly Enough, It Is Your God-given Right To Have It.

He Needed His Solitude At Times, But He Wasn't A Hermit. He Did A Lot Of Socializing. Sometimes I Think It Was Like He Was Storing Up Company For The Times When He Knew Nobody Would Be Around.