70 Mountain Quotes For Inspiration

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Mountains are a mystery to mankind and for centuries, the challenge of conquering mountains has lured adventurers and engineers tunnelled railways through mountains. The rewards of being on top of a mountain are the views and the solitude if you’re game to climb. Although a universally accepted definition of a mountain doesn’t exist and various measurements such as elevation, steepness, volume, spacing, relief and continuity have been used to define a mountain, we know in our hearts what it is when a mountain comes into view.

Mountains rarely stand on their own and are usually part of ranges that stretch across a vast area. The Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of a mountain is “a natural elevation of the earth surface rising more or less abruptly from the surrounding level and attaining an altitude which, relatively to the adjacent elevation, is impressive or notable.”

Mountain Quotes

inspirational mountain quotes
70 Inspirational mountain quotes to inspire your wanderlust.

The reason why quotes about mountains along with magazines, books and documentaries about climbing are so popular is that mankind has long held a fascination for mountains.

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Quotes about mountains

quotes with mountains

1- “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” ~ Dr Seuss.

2- “The mountains are calling and I must go.” ~ John Muir.

3- “Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” ~ Anatoli Boukreev.

4- “I like being near the top of the mountain. One can’t get lost here.” ~ Wislawa Szymborska.

5- “My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” ~ Aldous Huxley.

6- “You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” ~ Lito Tejada-Flores.

7- “Mountains know secrets we need to learn. That it 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.

8- “Mountains terrify me – they just sit about; they are so proud.” ~ Sylvia Plath

9- “One day’s exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books.” ~ John Muir.

10- “The mountains have rules. They are harsh rules, but they are there, and if you keep to them you are safe. A mountain is not like men. A mountain is sincere. The weapons to conquer it exist inside you, inside your soul.” ~ Walter Bonatti.

11- “I’d rather be in the mountains thinking of God than in church thinking of the mountains.” ~ John Muir.

12- “Great things are done when men and mountains meet; This is not done by jostling in the street.” ~ William Blake.

13- “The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” ~ Robert M. Pirsig.

14- “Mountains are earth’s undecaying monuments.” ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Also read: Jungfrau Mountain Railway in Switzerland

Inspirational Mountain Quotes

quotes about mountain
More inspirational quotes about mountains.

15- “Never measure the height of a mountain until you reach the top. Then you will see how low it was.” ~ Dag Hammarskjold.

16- “In the mountains, there are only two grades: You can either do it, or you can’t.” ~ Rusty Baillie.

17- “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” ~ Sir Edmund Hillary.

18- “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” ~ John Muir.

19- “When everything feels like an uphill struggle, Just think of the view from the top.” ~ Anonymous.

20- “Mountains have a way of dealing with overconfidence.” ~ Hermann Buhl.

21- “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in an office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” ~ Jack Kerouac.

22- “You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you.” ~ John Muir.

23- “If you think you’ve peaked, find a new mountain.” ~ John Muir.

24- “May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.” ~ Harley King.

25- “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.

mountain quotes
Some of the highest mountains in the world are in India.

26- “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” ~ John Muir.

27- “No matter how sophisticated you may be, a large granite mountain cannot be denied – it speaks in silence to the very core of your being.” ~ Ansel Adams.

28- “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain?” ~ Richard Nixon.

29- “I learn something every time I go into the mountains.” ~ Michael Kennedy.

30- “I think, every time I’m on the mountain, I’m just so thankful to be there.” ~ Chloe Kim.

31- “In the presence of eternity, the mountains are as transient as the clouds.” ~ Robert Green Ingersoll.

Love hiking? Here are some posts you might enjoy:

Captions for Mountains

moving mountain quotes
Mountain captions to use with your photos.

32- The tallest mountain ranges in the world, such as the Himalayas, were created through the plate tectonics process when the Earth’s crust was thrust upwards over millions of years.

33- Another type of mountain is the volcanic mountain, such as the mountains in Hawaii, which were created by molten rock erupting through the Earth’s crust.

34- Dome mountains, such as the South Dakota Black Hills, were formed when the magma that pushes the crust up hardens before the volcano erupts and spills onto the surface then, over the centuries, forces of nature sculpt these mountains into peaks and valleys.

35- Plateau mountains occurred when the tectonic plates collided and pushed the land upwards without folding.

36- Fault block mountains, such as the Sierra Nevadas in California, form when stresses within and between the tectonic plates lead to cracking and faulting of the Earth’s surface, forcing blocks of rock up and down.

37- There are at least 100 mountains with heights of over 7,200 metres (23,622 ft) above sea level, all of which are located in central and southern Asia.

38- The highest point on earth is Mount Everest, which stands 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level.

39- Mount Everest is the highest of 30 or the world’s highest mountains in the Himalayas, which started forming 55 million years ago.

quotes on mountain climbing
Mountains are a spectacular wonder of nature.

40- The tallest mountain measured from base to peak is Mauna Kea, which is an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii. Mauna Kea is 33,474 feet (10,203 meters) tall but only 13,796 feet (4,205 meters) is visible above the ocean.

41- The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven continents and dream for most serious mountain climbers to conquer.

42- American mountaineer Dick Bass was the first to climb all seven in 1985 and Italian mountaineer Reinhold Messner changed the list slightly.

The ‘Seven Summits’ are:

  • Asia – Mt Everest – 8848m
  • South America – Aconcagua – 6962m
  • North America – Denali (Mt McKinley) – 6194m
  • Africa – Mt Kilimanjaro – 5892m
  • Europe – Mt Elbrus – 5642m
  • Antarctica – Vinson Massif – 4892m
  • Oceania – Carstensz Pyramid – 4884m

Quotes About Mountain Climbing

quotes mountains
Keen on mountain climbing? Here are some quotes.

43- Over the centuries, man has climbed mountains because they are a worthwhile challenge and a thrilling adventure.

44- Climbing Mount Everest is a challenge more and more people seek, not only for the physical but mental challenges and conquering fears.

45- “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” Andy Rooney.

46- “There are two kinds of climbers, those who climb because their heart sings when they’re in the mountains, and all the rest.” – Alex Lowe.

47- “How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” – Yvon Chouinard.

48- “If you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you won’t see why we go.” ~ Sir Edmund Hillary.

49- “Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.” ~ Sir Edmund Hillary.

50- “Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it.” ~ Edmund Hillary.

51- “May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” ~ Edward Abbey.

52- “But it’s all still there in my heart and soul. The walk, the hills, the sky, the solitary pain and pleasure—they will grow larger, sweeter, lovelier in the days to come, like a treasure found and then, voluntarily, surrendered. Returned to the mountains with my blessing. It leaves a golden glowing on the mind.” ~ Edward Abbey.

53- “I walked slowly to enjoy this freedom, and when I came out of the mountains, I saw the sky over the prairie, and I thought that if heaven was real, I hoped it was a place I never had to go, for this earth was greater than any paradise.” ~Daniel J. Rice.

54- “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you are climbing it.” ~Andy Rooney.

55- “He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche.

quotes about climbing mountains

56- “Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.” ~Sir Martin Conway.

57- “The best view comes after the hardest climb.” ~ Unknown.

58- “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.” ~ Andy Andrews.

59- “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” ~Ed Viesturs.

60- “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” ~ Greg Child.

61- “Many climbers become writers because of the misconceptions about climbing.” ~ Jonathan Waterman.

62- “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”~ Muhammad Ali.

63- “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain, he is inspired by it.” ~ William Arthur Ward.

64- “In the mountains, you are sometimes invited, sometimes tolerated, and sometimes told to go home.” ~ Fred Beckey.

65- “When preparing to climb a mountain pack a light heart.” ~ Dan May.

66- “A man does not climb a mountain without bringing some of it away with him and leaving something of himself upon it.” ~ Sir Martin Conway.

67- “After a day’s walk, everything has twice its usual value.” ~ G.M. Trevelyan.

68- “Don’t let your personal mountains get in the way of progress.” ~ Anonymous.

69- “If you think you are defeated you will be. Climbing a mountain is a challenge you can conquer.” ~ Anonymous.

60- “There’s nothing more satisfying that rolling out a sleeping bag at the end of a day of mountain climbing.” ~ Anonymous.

Mountain Quotes
Mountain Quotes

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Christina Pfeiffer
Christina Pfeiffer is a writer, photographer and video blogger based in Queensland, Australia. She has lived in three continents and her career as a travel journalist has taken her to all seven continents. Since 2003, she has contributed travel stories and photographs to mainstream media in Australia and around the world such as the Sydney Morning Herald, CNN Traveller, The Australian and the South China Morning Post. She has won many travel writing awards and is a full member of the Australian Society of Travel Writers.