Quotes and words of wisdom from famous explorers!

"... I had ambition not only to go farther than any one had been before, but as far as it was possible for man to go ..." - James Cook, R.N.

Captain James Cook is widely renowned as an explorer, pioneering navigator and preventer of scurvy.

"....farther than any other man has been before me...as far as I think it possible for a man to go" The Journal of Capt. Cook - Second Voyage

Cook, James (Known as “Captain Cook.”) 1728–1779. British navigator and explorer who commanded three major voyages of discovery, charting and naming many islands of the Pacific Ocean. He also sailed along the coast of North America as far north as the Bering Strait.

James R. Cook Quotes: You are never giving, nor can you ever give, enough service.

I had ambition not only to go farther than any man had ever been before, but as far as it was possible for a man to go.

"I Keep Six Honest Serving Men ..." I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who. I send them over land and sea, I send them east and west; But after they have worked for me, I give them all a rest.

The Just So Stories for Little Children were written by British author Rudyard Kipling. They are highly fantasised origin stories and are among his best known, and arguably best, works.

The stories, first published in 1902, are fantastic accounts of how various natural phenomena came about. A forerunner of these stories is "How Fear Came" in The Second Jungle Book (1895), in which Mowgli hears the story of how the tiger got his stripes.

The original editions of Just So Stories were illustrated with woodcuts by Kipling himself, though later editions have included illustrations by other artists. Each story is accompanied by a poem, in a somewhat ballad style. The poem after "The Elephant's Child" is particularly widely quoted; it opens:

I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

We have always been taught that navigation is the result of civilization, but modern archeology has demonstrated very clearly that this is not so. Thor Heyerdahl

Thor Heyerdahl In my experience, it is rarer to find a really happy person in a circle of millionaires than among vagabonds. Thor Heyerdahl

It is also rarer to find happiness in a man surrounded by the miracles of technology than among people living in the desert of the jungle and who by the standards set by our society would be considered destitute and out of touch. Thor Heyerdahl

It says in the Bible, in plain words, that God made a self-portrait. He created man in His own image - man and woman - for God is Love.Why should we start thinking of a god up in the clouds with wings, if He dwells within us in the spirit of Love?! Thor Heyerdahl

One learns more from listening than speaking.And both the wind and the people who continue to live close to nature still have much to tell us which we cannot hear within university walls. Thor Heyerdahl

Alas! Alas! Life is full of disappointments; as one reaches one ridge there is always another and a higher one beyond which blocks the view. Fridtjof Nansen

I demolish my bridges behind me - then there is no choice but forward. Fridtjof Nansen

It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport. Fridtjof Nansen

Never keep a line of retreat: it is a wretched invention. Fridtjof Nansen

Never stop because you are afraid - you are never so likely to be wrong. Fridtjof Nansen

The difficult is what takes a little time; the impossible is what takes a little longer. Fridtjof Nansen

The Norwegian tour operator Svalbard Villmarkssenter, who organise adventure trips at the arctic island Svalbard in Norway writes on their webiste: Don`t go where the path may lead you, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Francis Bacon: A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

Believe you can and you’re half way there, Theodore Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt: The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.

An example of an expedition goal from the Norwegian K2 Expedition - Cecilie Skog:

Motives: - The expedition group want to be the first Norwegians reaching the top of the world`s most challenging mountain K2, which is 8.611 meter high. - The expedition want to do by fair means, it means without extra oxygen and without assistance of porters above Base Camp.

Goals (translated from Norwegian based on information from their website http://www.k2005.no/textView1.asp?menuId=5):

1. Everybody shall return home alive and in good condition. 2. We shall return home as better friends than we started our tour. 3. One or more shall reach the top of K2.

Stein Morten Lund, 21 September 2006