Quotes from Jon Krakauer

There is nothing glamorous or romantic about war. It's mostly about random pointless death and misery.

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.

Heaven, for me, is one focused project - it's like a weird form of autism.

But somethings in life are more important than being happy. Like being free to think for yourself.

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

Most friendly fire incidents aren't investigated properly because of neglect or a natural inclination to cover up the embarrassing fact that they killed one of their own.

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

How can you not be a feminist if you have a brain in your head? If you're not a feminist, then you're a problem.

Its not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.

Happiness means nothing to me. I just want to have meaning and purpose.

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 history of exploration: it's full of vainglorious pursuits.

To the contrary: His life hummed with meaning and purpose. But the meaning he wrested from existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that came easily.

Almost every magazine piece I've ever written, I felt like I haven't done it justice, like it was just a gloss.

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.

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-minded and incredibly driven. Which is a big reason the mountain is so dangerous.

When you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines through you.

Happiness [is] only real when shared

It's not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong.

Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.

I now walk into the wild.

I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong... to measure yourself at least once.

I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth.

We like companionship, see, but we can't stand to be around people for very long. So we go get ourselves lost, come back for a while, then get the hell out again.

Mr. Franz, I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one.