Jon Krakauer Quotes

I've always been quite careful about what I wanted to do. I've just never wanted to revisit old ground or do something that's easy. I want to do something that I would look at and go, "I don't know what to do!" The most exciting thing is when you're a bit scared, so I'm looking to find something that's really terrifying.

My Antarctic expedition is just about doable, just feasible and that's what is exciting to me. If I knew it was possible, if I knew I could do it without too much bother, I wouldn't be interested.

It's the uncertainty, the challenge and the willingness to put it all on the line that draws a lot of people to climb mountains. That can also apply to a lot of other challenges in life, whether it's running for office, starting a family, going to grad school or taking all of your cash and assets and starting a business.

There are those who keep out of mischief, and there are the adventurers, ‘ he said. “We racing drivers are adventurers; the more difficult something is, the greater the attraction that comes from it.

We must always take risks. That is our destiny.

Anytime you get out of your comfort zone and you have to do something that you're not comfortable doing and that you're not real sure of yourself in, there's an exhilaration that comes along with that. I get off on it, so that's why I enjoy making movies.

I want to be tested beyond my comfort zone. I don't want to be safe if it is more interesting to be dangerous.

The test of an adventure is that when you're in the middle of it, you say to yourself "Oh now I've got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home. And the sign that something's wrong with you is when you sit quietly at home wishing you were out having lots of adventure.

I've always had an interest in doing something that was outside my comfort zone; I had this thing about standing on the edge of the cliff and deciding to jump.

Golf without bunkers and hazards would be tame and monotonous. So would life.

If your work isn't exciting, doesn't stir the emotions, where's the challenge? Where's the progress if you always play it safe?

Everything is sweetened by risk.

I'm not really comfortable unless there's some kind of risk - either physical or mental.

Any creative process is about being in a territory which isn't secure, isn't necessarily familiar, and isn't convenient in any sort of way. And that's the excitement of it.

I like to scare myself and throw myself off the deep end.

Most of all I don't want to be bored. That's why I'd rather do something that has some sort of ambition, that risks failing, rather than make safer, more comfortable choices.

There's this thin line between knowing something is going to be really hard and saying, 'Yeah, you know, but I still gotta see if I can pull it off.'

What I love most about this crazy life is the adventure of it.

A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short.

Challenges give me a kick. The day I stop getting challenges, I would quit.

Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.

I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it interesting.

I like the idea of doing something outside my comfort zone.

If you don't have nerves and a little trepidation about any new project, then I don't think you're really alive.

Of course risk-taking does not always pay off, but it's a lot of fun!