No landscape inspires quite like the mountains. Mountains just have that alluring quality, and climbing to the top can teach you a lot about life. Whilst you dream of the summit and focus on the success of getting to the top, you realise afterwards that the most profound part was the journey and the effort needed to get to there. Success requires effort, perseverance and a determination to keep pushing yourself, just like climbing a mountain!
So here are our favourite inspirational mountain quotes from some of the world’s best mountaineers, writers and nature lovers. We hope they resonate with you to inspire your next adventure!
Inspiring Mountain Quotes
1. “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
- Andy Rooney
2. “Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.”
- Hermann Buhl
3. “You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.”
– Pink
4. “Mountains are like the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who anyone is or what they do.”
– Jimmy Chin
5. “The hardest mountain to climb is the one within”.
- J. Lynn
6. “What are men to rocks and mountains?”
– Jane Austen
7. “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddam mountain.”
- Jack Kerouac
8. “We don’t live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means, and that is what life is for”.
- George Mallory
9. “Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top. Then you will see how low it was.”
- Dag Hammerskjold
10. “In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks”
- John Muir
11. “The summit is what drives us, but the climb itself is what matters.”
- Conrad Anker
12. “In the mountains there are only two grades: you can either do it, or you can’t.”
– Rusty Baillie
13. “As a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human I can”
- Edmund Hillary
14. “You can’t conquer a mountain, though it may conquer you.”
15. “No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.
– Emily Kay McCallister
16. “Everybody wants to reach the peak, but there is no growth on the top of a mountain. It is in the valley that we slog through, the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.”
17. “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves”
-Edmund Hillary
18. “I think, every time I’m on the mountain, I’m just so grateful to be there”
– Chloe Kim
19. “The mountains are calling and I must go”
- John Muir
20. “We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us”.
- John Muir
21. “Mountains know secrets we need to learn. That might take time, it might be hard, but if you just hold on long enough, you will find the strength to rise up”
- Tyler Knott
22. “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wears you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe”
- Muhammad Ali
23. “Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing”
- Barry Finlay
24. “Who wouldn’t be a mountaineer! Up here all the world’s prizes seem nothing”
- John Muir
25. “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity”
- John Muir
26. “One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books”
- John Muir
27. “Human life is far more important than getting to the top of a mountain.”
– Edmund Hillary
28. “Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so…. get on your way!”
- Dr Seuss
29. “Great things are done when men and mountains meet.”
- William Blake
30. “You won’t find reasonable men at the top of tall mountains”
- Hunter S Thompson
31. “Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.”
- David McCullough Jr.
32. “Mountains are only a problem when they are bigger than you. You should develop yourself so much that you become bigger than the mountains you face.”
– Idowu Koyenikan
33. “There’s no glory in climbing a mountain if all you want to do is to get to the top. It’s experiencing the climb itself – in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue – that has to be the goal.”
– Karyn Kusama
34. “He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
35. “People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”
- Edmund Hillary
36. “The top of one mountain is always the bottom of another.”
– Marianne Williamson
37. “You don’t need to climb a mountain to know that it’s high.”
- Paula Coelho
38. “I’ve realized that at the top of the mountain, there’s another mountain.”
- Andrew Garfield
39. “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb”
- Greg Child
40. “Accidents on big mountains happen when people’s ambitions cloud their good judgment. Good climbing is about climbing with heart and with instinct, not ambition and pride.”
– Bear Grylls
41. “I learn something every time I go into the mountains.”
– Michael Kennedy
42. “Every man should pull a boat over a mountain once in his life.”
– Werner Herzog
43. “The cliche is that life is a mountain. You go up, reach the top and then go down.”
– Jeanne Moreau
44. “The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far.”
– Paulo Coelho
45. “The mountains were his masters. They rimmed in life.
They were the cup of reality, beyond growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of eternal change.”
- Thomas Wolfe
46. “May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.”
– Harley King
47. “When you stand at the bottom of the mountain and look up at the mountaintop, the path looks hard and stony, and the top is obscured by clouds.
But when you reach the top and you look down, you realize that there are a thousand paths that could have brought you to that place.”
– Roz Savage
48. “Although I deeply love oceans, deserts, and other wild landscapes, it is only mountains that beckon me with that sort of painful magnetic pull to walk deeper and deeper into their beauty.”
– Victoria Erikson
49. “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain, he is inspired by it.”
- William Arthur Ward
50. “Always be thankful for the little things… even the smallest mountains can hide the most breathtaking views!”
- Nyki Mack
51. ”Those who travel to mountain-tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion.”
What does reached the top of the mountain mean?
The phrase "The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think" is a metaphorical expression that conveys a deeper meaning about the challenges and difficulties encountered in achieving one's goals or reaching a significant milestone in life.
What is the word for reaching the top of a mountain?
summit, peak, pinnacle, climax, apex, acme, culmination mean the highest point attained or attainable. summit implies the topmost level attainable. peak suggests the highest among other high points. pinnacle suggests a dizzying and often insecure height.
How do I get back to the top of the mountain in Gow?
Burn away the Hel bramble and climb the cliffs. At the top, you'll be back on the ridge right before the top of the mountain. Walk right up to the structure, then burn away some more brambles. Climb up to the top to [finally] return to the Jotunheim arch.
What do you say when you reach the top of the mountain?
'summit' and 'summited,' are the terms I've heard most frequently employed by actual mountain climbers.