When I Start Any Book, I Have

And If I Remain In The Dark About Our Purpose Here, And The Meaning Of Eternity, I Have Nevertheless Arrived At An Understanding Of A Few More Modest Truths: Most Of Us Fear Death. Most Of Us Yearn To Comprehend How We Got Here, And Why-- Which Is To Say, Most Of Us Ache To Know The Love Of Our Creator. And We Will No Doubt Feel That Ache, Most Of Us, For As Long As We Happen To Be Alive.

When Alex Left For Alaska," Franz Remembers, "i Prayed. I Asked God To Keep His Finger On The Shoulder Of That One; I Told Him That Boy Was Special. But He Let Alex Die. So On December 26, When I Learned What Happened, I Renounced The Lord. I Withdrew My Church Membership And Became An Atheist. I Decided I Couldn't Believe In A God Who Would Let Something That Terrible Happen To A Boy Like Alex.

Most Climbers Aren't In Fact Deranged, They're Just Infected With A Particularly Virulent Strain Of The Human Condition.

The Thing That Is Most Beautiful About Antarctica For Me Is The Light. It's Like No Other Light On Earth, Because The Air Is So Free Of Impurities. You Get Drugged By It, Like When You Listen To One Of Your Favorite Songs. The Light There Is A Mood-enhancing Substance.

Heaven, For Me, Is One Focused Project - It's Like A Weird Form Of Autism.