"Take advantage of the years of pioneering efforts. You might find this boring, as the young want to rush head on, as it were."

"I hate being called an 'icon.' I just don't like it. That's all there is to it."

"I was extremely lucky that I had two great wives. It sounds a bit funny to say that, but it's absolutely true."

"Even when you're 50, you can make the effort to improve your standards."

"I was definitely very much a country boy."

"When I was climbing, I built up a close relationship with the Sherpa people."

"I like to think of Everest as a great mountaineering challenge, and when you've got people just streaming up the mountain - well, many of them are just climbing it to get their name in the paper, really."

"Becoming a 'Sir' is slightly uncomfortable at first, although it is a considerable honor. It is amazing how quickly you become accustomed to it."

"I think that a good mountaineer is usually a sensible mountaineer."

"I don't regard myself as a cracking good climber. I'm just strong in the back. I have a lot of enthusiasm, and I'm good on ice."

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

"I can remember when I first went into the Himalayan area way back in 1951. Money, for instance, was not important at all to the local people. But now, finance has become just as important to them as it is to us, and this is a change maybe not for the better."