Peak Quotes

“My peak? Would I even have one? I hardly had had anything you could call a life. A few ripples. some rises and falls. But that's it. Almost nothing. Nothing born of nothing. I'd loved and been loved, but I had nothing to show. It was a singularly plain, featureless landscape. I felt like I was in a video game. A surrogate Pacman, crunching blindly through a labyrinth of dotted lines. The only certainty was my death.”
― Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance

“For a climber, saying that you are stopping by Everest is like saying that you are stopping by to see God.”
― Roland Smith, Peak

“Scraps of memory: this is not how a climax should be written. A climax should surge towards its Himalayan peak; but I am left with shreds, and must jerk towards my crisis like a puppet with broken strings. This is not what I had planned; but perhaps the story you finish is never the one you begin.”
― Salman Rushdie

“Mount Everest has a “death zone”. When a climber is in that zone, at very high altitude, he’s living on borrowed time. He will almost certainly need a good oxygen supply. All living tissue is starting to die (necrosis) thanks to the cold and the altitude. Unlike climbers, the higher that geniuses ascend, the more invigorated they become, the stronger their flesh and minds become. They experience the opposite of necrosis. They have entered the Life Zone.”
― Mike Hockney, HyperHumanity

“Come with us to the summit of the pyramid, to the perfection of the universe and the perfection of yourself. At the top of the pyramid are the gods and goddesses themselves – fully optimized, perfected minds. They have reached the Hyper Point, the Point Above All. Join us. Join the Society of the Divine. Join the Community of the Gods. Do not worship God. Become God.”
― Thomas Stark, Base Reality: Ultimate Existence

“Sometimes, victory lies not so much in conquering the glorious mountain peak but in simply having survived through a fatal and deadly storm.”
― Hrishikesh Agnihotri, Enrich The World With Your Presence : HA's Original Quotes, Volume 01

“My father considered himself fully weaponized, not only because he was a skilled fighter and in peak shape, but because he knew how to harness his will.”
― Shannon Lee, Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee

“I believe it’s important that we are able hold excitement for the next peak when one mountain becomes a valley. This is the true art of sensuality.”
― Lebo Grand

“The biologically toxic field of high altitude astronomy was the only employer that sent me on a ‘How to deal with unacceptable employee behavior’ management course.”
― Steven Magee

“My health was severely damaged by astronomers.”
― Steven Magee

“If you are a sea level adapted human you should avoid being a high altitude astronomers laboratory rat for the protection of your long term health and safety.”
― Steven Magee

“When I was hired to work at the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), it was not disclosed to me that the site was being hit by powerful sonic booms from military supersonic aircraft that would shake the buildings. I had noticed that there seemed to be a significant number of staff that were having heart issues and some appeared to have had heart attacks and died prematurely. I later discovered during researching my own heart issues that it was a suspected effect of exposure to sonic booms. Regular exposure to sonic booms from military supersonic jet aircraft is suspected of increasing the incidence of vibroacoustic disease, a thickening of heart tissue which may lead to heart arrhythmia or premature death.”
― Steven Magee

“Everyone loves reaching the peak upon exiting the valley. However, some forget the valley is where they learned and grew the most, and the peak they have reached will soon become another valley.”
― Jeffrey G. Duarte

“I had a mysterious prolonged UTI of unknown cause in 2007 that all medical UTI testing proved negative. A year later in 2008 my doctor was stating ‘He has a plethora of multi-system complaints with no specificity.’ I had been working at an astronomical facility that used a large amount of mercury and had been handling rubber filled mercury systems with no personal protective equipment, such as gloves and respirators. The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) where I worked provided no industry recognized training in the safe handling of mercury.”
― Steven Magee

“You never fully recover from mercury poisoning.”
― Steven Magee

“I am researching why you would not allow Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on site.”
― Steven Magee

“I find it very concerning that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were prevented from visiting Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO).”
― Steven Magee

“My body contains the dirty secrets of professional astronomy.”
― Steven Magee

“Professional astronomers were successful in preventing Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from visiting Kitt Peak National Observatory, however it is highly unlikely that they will be successful in building the biologically toxic 1.4 billion dollar Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.”
― Steven Magee

“The sickest high altitude workers that I encountered in professional astronomy were at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA.”
― Steven Magee

“I worked at three high altitude professional astronomy sites. My ranking for the biological toxicity of those sites is: 1) Mauna Kea. 2) Kitt Peak. 3) Roque de los Muchachos.”
― Steven Magee

“How far would you have to soar into the sky to get the best view of the abyss? Anyone has reached the bottom of the deepest abyss is equally capable of reaching the top of the highest mountain.”
― Ranty McRanterson, Regatta De Mort: The Mad God

“If you reflect upon your own highest moments or peak experiences. You will probably also remember them as moments of great pleasure, even ecstasy.”
― W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

“It is only against the big waves that he is required to use all his skill, all his courage and concentration to overcome; only then can he realize the true limits of his capacities. At that point he often attains his peak. In other words, the more challenging the obstacle he faces, the greater the opportunity for the surfer to discover and extend his true potential. The potential may have always been within him, but until it is manifested in action, it remains a secret hidden from himself. The obstacles are a very necessary ingredient to this process of self-discovery. Note that the surfer in this example is not out to prove himself; he is not out to show himself or the world how great he is, but is simply involved in the exploration of his latent capacities. He directly and intimately experiences his own resources and thereby increases his self-knowledge.”
― W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

“Acceptance is good but change is better.”
― Abhishzk

“I made the mistake of taking a past girlfriend up to Kitt Peak National Observatory to fill the instrument cryostat with liquid nitrogen. It was one of the largest cryostats at the facility and took a long time to fill. The entire time there was a huge plume of cold nitrogen gas coming out of it, visible for several feet. After we were finished, she started complaining of feeling sick to the point that she thought she was going to vomit. It lasted for several hours. A few years later she started showing signs and symptoms of fatigue and depression and was being medically treated for it. I always felt guilty that I exposed her to the nitrogen gas, as I had no idea how toxic it was because I had never been sent on an OSHA approved cryogenic liquid training course.”
― Steven Magee

“By the time I left Kitt Peak National Observatory, I had formed the opinion there was a cover-up culture there.”
― Steven Magee

“Kitt Peak National Observatory was infested with rodents. There were so many that rodent traps were in daily use there.”
― Steven Magee

“The only workplace that prevented a health and safety visit from occurring during my career was professional astronomy. They were adamant that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were not going to be allowed to visit the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA. They were successful in canceling the scheduled OSHA visit and the result was I became much sicker as time progressed while working there. Part of that sickness was suspected mercury poisoning.”
― Steven Magee, Magee’s Disease

“You messed up, Pete'
'Peak,' I said
'Weird name'
'Weird parents”
― Roland Smith, Peak