Tuesday, January 22, 2008

life is like mountaineering...

(taken from BBC)

Sir Edmund Hillary will always be remembered as the first to succeed in conquering the world’s highest plateau on 29 May 1953 together with his Sherpa companion, Tenzing Norgay. This was also the day Queen Elizabeth was crowned. Sir Edmund was knighted for his efforts, and Tenzing given a medal.

However he said, “My most worthwhile things have been building the schools and clinics. That has given me more satisfaction than a footprint on a mountain.” In 1964 he founded the Himalayan Trust when he was New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India for two years. This Trust helped establish clinics, hospitals and nearly 30 schools.

Sir Edmund, 88, died of a heart attack in Auckland on 11 January 2008.

Quote: “Sir Edmund Hillary remained philosophical about living with such an early achievement. He explained: I’ve had a full and rewarding life. Life’s a bit like mountaineering – never look down.” Unquote (BBC International news)

2 comments:

Bob said...

And Sir Edmund is on to climb the most important mountain. God bless him and pioneers like him who dared to be different.

twilite said...

bob: Great to see you! Thanks.