Antarctica Proverbs (37)

“Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”

Obstacles are not reasons to stop; they are simply the next problem to solve.

“By endurance we conquer.”

The Shackleton family motto (Fortitudine Vincimus), which gave the ship Endurance its name — steady persistence, not force, wins in the end.

“Optimism is true moral courage.”

Choosing to stay hopeful in the face of danger is itself a form of bravery.

“A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground.”

When a plan fails, immediately set a new goal rather than dwelling on the loss.

“Great God! this is an awful place.”

Scott's diary reaction on 17 January 1912, arriving at the South Pole to find Amundsen's Norwegian flag already there.

“For God's sake look after our people.”

The final line of Scott's diary, written as he and his companions lay dying in their tent, asking that their families be cared for.

“We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last.”

Accepting the consequences of a chosen risk with dignity, without excuse or self-pity.

“Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman.”

Scott's tribute to his companions' bravery, written knowing he would not survive to tell their story himself.

“These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale.”

A stark acknowledgment that his diary, found beside his body, would be the only record of what happened.

“We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.”

A plain, unflinching account of his party's failing strength near the close of the expedition.

“Victory awaits him who has everything in order — luck, people call it. Defeat is definitely due for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time.”

Careful preparation, not chance, is what separates success from failure in a dangerous undertaking.

“Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.”

The famous opening line of The Worst Journey in the World, wryly summing up the suffering of Antarctic expedition life.

“If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.”

A dry, self-aware remark on how disproportionate the extreme suffering of the Cape Crozier winter journey was to its modest scientific prize.

“Half of the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.”

A lesson Byrd drew from months of solitude at an isolated Antarctic weather station, where survival stripped life down to essentials.

“Loneliness is the penalty of leadership, but the man who has to make the decisions is assisted greatly if he feels that there is no uncertainty in the minds of those who follow him, and that his orders will be carried out confidently and in expectation of success.”

A leader must bear isolation in decision-making, but clear, confident followers make that burden easier to carry.

“We had seen God in His splendours, heard the text that Nature renders. We had reached the naked soul of man.”

Shackleton's reflection on crossing South Georgia's mountains, describing an experience so extreme it stripped away everything but raw human essence.

“Just when things looked their worst, they changed for the best. I have marvelled often at the thin line that divides success from failure and the sudden turn that leads from apparently certain disaster to comparative safety.”

Fortune can turn suddenly; the gap between disaster and survival is often much narrower than it appears.

“For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organization, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time.”

Each of the great Antarctic leaders had a different strength; Cherry-Garrard's tribute ranks Shackleton above all others in a true crisis.

“And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore.”

Curiosity paired with the will to act is reason enough to venture into the unknown.

“It is so easy to be afraid of being afraid!”

Fear of fear itself can be more paralyzing than the danger that provoked it.

“And if the worst, or best, happens, and Death comes for you in the snow, he comes disguised as Sleep, and you greet him rather as a welcome friend than a gruesome foe.”

Death by freezing is often gentle rather than terrifying, arriving quietly as exhaustion overtakes fear.

“All the world loves a penguin. I think it is because in many respects they are like ourselves, and in some respects they are what we should like to be.”

Penguins charm people because their odd dignity mirrors both human foibles and human aspirations.

“The question constantly put to us in civilization was and still is: "What is the use? Is there gold? or Is there coal?" The commercial spirit of the present day can see no good in pure science.”

A rebuke of the assumption that discovery is only worthwhile when it yields immediate profit.

“A man doesn't begin to attain wisdom until he recognizes that he is no longer indispensable.”

True wisdom begins when a person accepts that the world does not depend entirely on them.

“Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.”

Most people never discover the full extent of their own inner resilience because they are never truly tested.

“The human race, my intuition tells me, is not outside the cosmic process and is not an accident. It is as much a part of the universe as the trees, the mountains, the aurora, and the stars.”

Byrd's months of solitude near the South Pole led him to feel humanity as intimately woven into the natural universe rather than separate from it.

“Solitude is an excellent laboratory in which to observe the extent to which manners and habits are conditioned by others.”

Being entirely alone reveals how much of ordinary behavior exists only because other people are watching.

“When the explorer comes home victorious, everyone goes out to cheer him. We are all proud of his achievement — proud on behalf of the nation and of humanity. We think it is a new feather in our cap, and one we have come by cheaply.”

Amundsen's wry observation that a nation shares in an explorer's glory without sharing in the suffering that earned it.

“We had discovered an accursed country. We had found the Home of the Blizzard.”

Mawson's summary verdict on Cape Denison, later measured as one of the windiest places on Earth, and the source of his book's title.

“In no department can a leader spend time more profitably than in the selection of the men who are to accomplish the work.”

Choosing the right people is the single most valuable investment a leader can make.

“Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for speed and efficiency, but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”

Priestley's tribute ranking the three great Antarctic explorers by their distinct strengths, with Shackleton unmatched in crisis leadership.

“I am just going outside and may be some time.”

Oates's final words before walking into a blizzard to his death, an act of self-sacrifice meant to give his companions a better chance of survival.

“I have run out of time, physical endurance and a simple sheer inability to slide one ski in front of the other to travel the distance required.”

Worsley's final radio message during his solo unsupported crossing attempt, acknowledging with quiet honesty that his body had reached its limit.

“A single storm could have wiped us out, mind over matter notwithstanding, but Antarctica suffered our passing as a giant that allows a fly to crawl across his face.”

A humbling image of how small and fragile human effort is against the scale and indifference of the Antarctic continent.

“The greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”

Environmental responsibility cannot be outsourced; waiting for others to act is itself a threat.

“I believe the two halves of my life can complement each other and work in harmony; expeditions teach me to appreciate the blessings of home; and home reinforces the value of adventures.”

Aston reflects on how the extremes of polar solitude and ordinary domestic life each give the other deeper meaning.

“I had seen for myself that it is human relationships that bind us to place, time and purpose, human relationships that make us who we are as individuals and that our contentment, and our happiness, depend on those precious human connections.”

Months of total isolation taught Aston that human connection, not solitude, is what ultimately gives life meaning.