“The stresses of high-altitude climbing reveal your true character; they unmask who you really are. You no longer have all the social graces to hide behind, to play roles. You are the essence of what you are.”

“It's like you're a character in this book that everyone around you is writing, and suddenly you have to say, 'I'm sorry, but this role isn't right for me'. And you have to start writing your own life and doing your own thing.”

“The Ego, however, is not who you really are. The ego is your self-image; it is your social mask; it is the role you are playing. Your social mask thrives on approval. It wants control, and it is sustained by power, because it lives in fear.”

“I have always believed that character is destiny, that if you know someone's true character, you can pretty much map out how your association with that person will unfold. If the person's character is honorable, you will be treated honorably. If the person's character is selfish, then you will have to give more to the person than you'll ever receive.”

“Identity is your role in life, the part you play. Individuality is who you are, and who you are is revealed to you if you can get to complete presence.”

“And as you wait for something that may never happen, you’ll continue to hide behind a wall of your own making. You’re afraid if you showed a woman who you really are, she will not love you. So, you choose to hide your true self behind a mask of arrogance.”

“…I tell you that loneliness itself is the secret. It’s a secret you cannot tell anyone. Why? Because to confess your loneliness is to confess your failure as a human being. To confess would only cause others to pity and avoid you, afraid that what you have is catching. Your condition is caused by a lack of human relationship, and yet to admit to it only drives your possible rescuers farther away (while attracting cats). So you attempt to hide your loneliness in public, to behave, in fact, as though you have too many friends already, and thus you hope to attract people who will unwittingly save you. But it never works that way. Your condition is written all over your face, in the hunch of your shoulders, in the hollowness of your laugh. You fool no one. Believe me in this; I’ve tried all the tricks of the lonely man.”