Jon Krakauer

“You have to remember what a comfort religion is. It provides all the answers. It makes life simple. Nothing makes you feel better than doing what the prophet commands you to do… If you want...”

“According to the moral absolutism that characterizes McCandless's beliefs, a challenge in which a successful outcome is assured isn't a challenge at all.”

“When I went to Everest, I underestimated things. I just didn't know what altitude could do. Or the cold - I especially didn't appreciate the cold. It can be just debilitating, and things can...”

“Antarctica has this mythic weight. It resides in the collective unconscious of so many people, and it makes this huge impact, just like outer space. It's like going to the moon.”

“I think part of the appeal of Antarctica is experiencing some sort of power, the forces of the natural world.”

“Antarctica is a very alien environment, and you can't survive here more than minutes if you're not equipped properly and doing the right thing all the time.”

“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 liste...”

“Climbing Mount Everest was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I wish I'd never gone. I suffered for years of PTSD and still suffer from what happened. I'm glad I wrote a book abo...”

“You can get a lawyer with two months off or a New York socialite who wants to play at being Lewis and Clark and put them up there, but Everest is still in charge; it can still kick butt.”

“You get a compound fracture in Colorado where I live, and you can probably be in a hospital within a matter of hours, certainly within a day.”

“I've had a lot of crappy jobs, but one of my favorites was working as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. What I loved about it was, you got paid for what you caught.”

“I'm not even religious, but I get fanaticism. I get the appeal of it.”

“I'm intrigued by fanatics - people who are seduced by the promise, or the illusion, of the absolute.”

“I knew that you couldn't make a living simply writing about the outdoors, so I made an effort from the beginning of my freelance career to write about other subjects.”

“When I was 23, I went to Alaska by myself into the glaciers of the coast range and climbed a mountain by myself. It was incredibly reckless, incredibly stupid. But I was lucky. And I survive...”

“Why climb? That's a question that baffles me. It perplexes me. I really asked that a lot on Everest. I can't justify it. I can't say it's for a good cause. All I can say is look at the histo...”

“Military investigations are designed not to find anyone guilty. And you can't investigate up the chain of command, which is a huge impediment.”

“Military investigations are designed not to find anyone guilty.”

“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...”

“Rob Hall was, without doubt, the most competent guide in mountaineering.”