“I have often marveled at the thin line which separates success from failure.”

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

I chose life over death for myself and my friends. I believe it is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to explore at all.

When things are easy, I hate it.

Optimism is the true moral courage.

Now my eyes are turned from the South to the North, and I want to lead one more Expedition. This will be the last to the North Pole.

Superhuman effort isn’t worth a damn unless it achieves results.

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

Optimism is true moral courage.

I do not know what ‘moss’ stands for in the proverb , but if it stood for useful knowledge… I gathered more moss by rolling than I ever did at school.

I thought you’d rather have a live donkey than a dead lion.

If you’re a leader, a fellow that other fellows look to, you’ve got to keep going.

The noise resembles the roar of heavy, distant surf. Standing on the stirring ice one can imagine it is disturbed by the breathing and tossing of a mighty giant below.

I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave.

After months of want and hunger, we suddenly found ourselves able to have meals fit for the gods, and with appetites the gods might have envied.

From the sentimental point of view, it is the last great Polar journey that can be made.

By endurance we conquer.

Many souls fail to find God because they want a religion which will remake society without remaking themselves.

Uncertainty and the prospect of failure can be very scary noises in the shadows. Most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty.

I, God, am in your midst. Whoever knows me can never fall. Not in the heights, nor in the depths, nor in the breadths. For I am love, which the vast expanses of evil can never still.

A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.

It’s bad policy to speculate on what you’ll do if a plan fails when you’re trying to make a plan work.

Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.

I’m really concerned that ‘too big to fail’ has become ‘too big for trial’.

Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.