Tommy Caldwell Quotes

I grew up a clumsy kid with bad hand-eye coordination. Yet here on El Cap, I felt as though I had stumbled into a world where I thrived. Being up on those steep walls demanded the right amount of climbing skill, pain tolerance, and sheer bull-headedness that came naturally to me.

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

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

To put yourself into a situation where a mistake cannot necessarily be recouped, where the life you lose may be your own, clears the head wonderfully. It puts domestic problems back into proportion and adds an element of seriousness to your drab, routine life. Perhaps this is one reason why climbing has become increasingly hard as society has become increasingly, disproportionately, coddling.

All of my high school issues are resolved!

I'm very shy, and I shy away from people. But the moment I hit the stage, it's a different feeling I get nerve from somewhere; maybe it's because it's something I love to do.

I think I would've been a bit terrified to have gone and done a lead straight away. Obviously great if you do, but it's all about longevity.

Anything new is a sort of adventure - as a child, I think I was quite bad at tackling new experiences, like unusual foods, and I hated new clothes or having my hair cut.

A life lesson for me is, how do you muster the courage to take on a new risk? Whether it's starting up a business or taking on a new project or expedition. I think the risks that we take are all relative to the risk-taker.

A lot of people simply don't realize their potential because they're just so risk adverse. They just don't want to take the risk.

Whenever there's a role that scares me, I get panicked and nervous. I know that greatness might come because I'm going to get out of my own element and comfort zone.

For many years, I didn't even like the idea of doing a one-person play. Public speaking got me past that. I've always been good at public speaking, but I never really enjoyed it. Then I started to really enjoy it, and that's made all the difference.

It's been a roller-coaster ride. But I haven't been diving this well for a while.

I've gone skydiving twice. I was terrified about doing it, but I wanted to overcome that. The first time, I did it with my parents and I remember that they had already both jumped out, and suddenly it was my turn. And I thought, 'Well, I don't want to be an orphan,' so I guess I have no choice, and I jumped out of the plane.

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

If you don't go to a dance, you can never be rejected, but you'll never get to dance, either.

I'm still learning how to be comfortable touring. I haven't found that balance yet.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

That is definitely something that I feel more comfortable with now. When I did 'Lord of the Rings,' it was something I wasn't quite prepared for, I didn't know how to deal with that sort of attention, and I kind of shied away from that, but I'm better at dealing with that now - a lot better.

I've been climbing my whole life, so I know a lot of the feelings, the smells; these memories are pretty distinct in my mind still.

If somebody wants me to do something I've never done, I can do it more easily because of all of the years of sports I've played.

Prizefighter changed my life in so many ways, and I was dying to go into it despite me being the least experienced.

The work I like to do is the work I'm most afraid of.

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