Tommy Caldwell Quotes

The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won't happen if you compromise away the entire process.

Getting on a plane is hard for me, but I do it, because travel is vital to me.

I kind of think of my life as this incredible hurricane of so many adventures. We can all make a difference, and we can all be courageous and believe in ourselves.

I love the feeling of touching the rock, the feeling of my body going up the rock.

I realised I'd never climb Everest but thought I could still write a book.

I like the simplicity of soloing. You've got no gear, no partner. You never climb better than when you free-solo.

Often the best guys are just those that can suffer longer, who don't give up. And it's so easy to give up, when you're on a mountain and it's really hurting. We go through a lot physically.

My wife always says that I function better up on a big wall than I do anywhere else in life.

I didn't do very well when I was at school, so my dad gave me the opportunity to travel in Africa. I drove from London to Nairobi. It was incredible.

From the vertigo, I found out how far I can push myself physically and also mentally.

From wrestling, I learned that I was capable of much more than I thought I was.

I've done all my bike circuit cardio workouts when I know I gotta push my numbers higher and I gotta be better than I was before. It sucks. Your body doesn't want to do it, but I've done that. I know I have that in me.

I felt the strongest impulse to climb when I entered my first competitions.

I feel like I learned that I am so much stronger than I ever thought I was, not just emotionally, but physically.

The art of climbing is to go where you go knowing that you could die, but you don't die. That is adventure.

I thought I would come to Australia and learn to surf. Instead, I learned to walk.

Me finding my confidence took me a while, but now I love that I went through everything I did before to get to where I am now.

In my most painful moments on the bike, I am at my most curious and I wonder each and every time how I will respond.

I've always hated the danger part of climbing, and it's great to come down again because it's safe But 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.

Sports became a way for me to find my personality and identity in life. I had a lot of problems as a young kid like we all do with my own confidence, trying to grow up, and become a man and whatnot. Sports helped me get there. It helped me get my role in Rocky IV. It has helped me ever since in my movies and dealing with a lot of hard times between pictures and my life. I would say it's the one thing that's kept me going over the years.

I'm sorry I never really believed," I said. "Not the way Jack did." "It doesn't make any difference," my mother replied. Her eyes focused on the beanstalk for a moment, then returned to mine. "You believe now. Be safe and smart up there, my Gen. Be yourself." Before I could answer, my mother turned away and walked quickly toward the house. I turned to face the beanstalk. There is no going back now, I thought. For better or worse, there was only going forward. There was only going up. Seizing the trunk of the beanstalk with both hands, I pushed off from the World Below and began to climb.

It wasn't until my late twenties that I learned that by working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned that nothing good comes without work and a certain amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets bad, I know it can't be as bad as that workout.

I think it wasn't so much that the White House altered me in any essential way as that I found the resources with which to respond to a series of challenges. You never know what you can do until you have to do it. In the beginning, it was like going to a party you're terrified of, and finding out to your amazement that you're having a good time.

I don't see life as an opportunity to see how far you can go in the pursuit of pain, although I think I've challenged it a bit.

A few hours of mountain climbing make a blackguard and a saint two rather similar creatures.