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17th December 2021

Famous Sayings and Quotes by Sir Edmund Hillary

The famous sayings and quotes by Edmund Hillary are the source of great inspiration to mountaineers and adventurers throughout the world. These popular quotes remind you that there’s nothing in life that humans can’t achieve. Get inspiration from the quotations and famous phrases from the life of a Newzealand mountaineer.

Almost everyone knows who Edmund Hillary is. In case you don’t know, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa were the first mountaineers to reach the summit of Mt. Everest on 29th May 1953. He was a mountaineer, an explorer, and a philanthropist. After the first ascent, he was also involved in social works in Nepal through the Himalayan Trust. Further, he has helped sherpa people build schools and hospitals in Nepal. The pioneer Everest summiteer has many honors in his name, which also includes Order of the Garter.

may-29-1953-edmund hillary-tenzing

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa at the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953. | Photo: nzhistory.govt.nz

Edmund Hillary Sayings and Mountain Quotes

Here are the famous sayings and quotes by Edmund Hillary that will inspire you and motivate you to achieve anything in life. Besides, these quotes are also great hiking captions for Instagram photos of mountains that will encourage your followers to try the impossible in life.

 1.”We knocked the bastard off.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

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

“It’s not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

3. “It is an act of worship just to sit and look at high mountains.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

4. “I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

edmund hillary quotes on motivation

5. “Because my name appears in history books, most children think I am dead.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

“I don’t know if I particularly want to be remembered for anything. I have enjoyed great satisfaction from my climb of Everest and my trips to the poles. But there’s no doubt, either, that my most worthwhile things have been the building of schools and medical clinics.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

6.”If you have plenty – more than enough – and someone else has nothing, then you should do something about it.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

7.”Nothing can replace courage, a resounding motivation and that little of luck.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

8.”Challenge is what makes men. It will be the end when men stop looking for new challenges.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

famous inspirational saying of Edmund hillary on challenges

“Lives a bit like mountaineering – never look down.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

9. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

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

11. “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.

12. “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.

hillary quotes on mountains

13. “There is something about building up a comradeship – that I still believe is the greatest of all feats – and sharing in the dangers with your company of peers. It’s the intense effort, the giving of everything you’ve got. It’s really a very pleasant sensation.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

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

15. “When you’re climbing at high altitudes, life can get pretty miserable.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

“Once I’ve decided to do something, I do usually try to carry it through to fruition.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

16. “I hate being called an ‘icon.’ I just don’t like it. That’s all there is to it.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

17. “It’s not a real adventure when you have to pay for it.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

18. “I was definitely very much a country boy.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

19. “My mother was a schoolteacher and very keen that I go to a city school, so although it was fairly impoverished times, I traveled every day to the Auckland Grammar School.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

Looking for a good caption for a Facebook photo?

Read: 60 Hiking Quotes as Facebook Captions 

20. “I am inclined to think that the realm of mythology is where the Yeti rightly belongs.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

21. “Even when you’re 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

edmund hillary quotes on efforts for old people

“You don’t have to be intellectually bright to be a competent leader.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

22. “As a youngster I was a great dreamer, reading many books of adventure and walking lonely miles with my head in the clouds.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

23. “Motivation is the single most important factor in any sort of success.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

motivational quote from the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest

24. “I am a lucky man, I have had a dream, and it has come true, and that is not a thing that happens often to men.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

“I will come again & conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human, I can.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

25. “I have discovered that even the mediocre can have adventures and even the fearful can achieve.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

26. “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.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

27. “That is the thing that international travel brings home to me–it’s always good to be going home. This is the only place I want to live in; this is the place I want to see out my days.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

28. “I think the really good mountaineer is the man with the technical ability of the professional and with the enthusiasm and freshness of approach of the amateur.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

“You don’t have to be a hero to accomplish great things—to compete. You can just be an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.”–Sir Edmund Hillary.

At the End

The above popular sayings of Edmund Hillary are not only quotes that are written in history books. Instead, it also reminds you that there’s no mountain in life that you can’t conquer. No matter what hurdles you face in life, you can conquer them as Edmund Hillary did in the ’90s when no one thought people will one day conquer the mighty Everest.

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sanjib adhikari

Sanjib is a seasoned adventurer and a tourism expert who has spent the past 6 years immersed in Nepal's vibrant travel industry. He has trekked through Nepal's iconic landscapes in the Everest, Manaslu, Annapurna, and Langtang regions. He now spends his time writing about different places in Nepal and helping others travel effortlessly.

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