Jon Krakauer Quotes

It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.

Sometimes we need to take big risks if we want to find out who we are, and what we were put on this planet for.

You can't call it an adventure unless it's tinged with danger. The greatest danger in life, though, is not taking the adventure at all. To have the objective of a life of ease is death. I think we've all got to go after our own Everest.

The spirit around leaving New York, for me, was that I just felt I needed to do something really outside of my comfort zone. And I really couldn't tell you at the time why I needed to do it. It wasn't like I was running from something dark; it was a desire to shake things up.

What draws me in is that a trip is a leap in the dark. It's like a metaphor for life. You set off from home, and in the classic travel book, you go to an unknown place. You discover a different world, and you discover yourself.

We in middle age require adventure.

A life lived unexplored is a life not worth living.

I believe if you are not rediscovering yourself and pushing boundaries, then you are not alive.

The decision to go to Milan, as everyone knows, made me mature as a man. It was a big chance and perhaps too big for the man I was at the time.

One of the greatest struggles of becoming an adult is figuring out what you want to do and what makes you happy. The courageous thing is to stick with it and see it through and see if you were correct.

...often, stepping outside your comfort zone is not careless irresponsibility, but a necessary act of obedience.

Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward.

I love finding things that scare me and doing them. That's how you grow.

Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.

Some people see acting as a kind of stroll on the beach, and some people see it as a kind of skydive. And I've had lots of strolls on the beach in my life, so I'd like to do a skydive.

I love going out of my comfort zone - I live to go out of my comfort zone.

What is the purpose of being human and alive without doing new things?

I want to do things that scare me, and also have a good time.

No, you never get any fun out of the things you haven't done.

I don't know what makes me me. Sometimes it's really annoying to be me, but I have always had a spirit that wants to find a challenge, parties, the life, the attention, where the most energy is - I'm going in.

Sometimes doors open and other close and you have to figure out which one you're going to take. I'm always for the one that's challenging. That's where I think you live your life to the fullest.

I know that when I'm standing alone below a thousand-foot wall, looking up and considering a climb, my sponsors are the furthest thing from my mind. If I'm going to take risks, they are going to be for myself - not for any company.

I'm scared of horses, and I don't know how to shoot them, but that's what excites me. After 40 years old, if you don't do some things that really terrify you, I don't think they're worth doing.

I promised myself a long time ago that I would lead an interesting life.

Before turning 32 is an amazing time to do radical things. You figure out who you are while you figure out who you are not.