“I love home cooking, and I’m not a great one for fast food.”

The lesson is, the rewards in life don’t always go to the biggest, or the bravest, or the smartest. The rewards go to the dogged; and when your going though hell, to the person who just keeps going.

I hang out all the time with kids and young scouts and I never meet kids who don’t want adventure.

Without risk, there can be no growth.

I don’t like expeditions where it is a total lottery whether you live or die. You have to keep those sort of good luck cards for rare occasions!

To me, adventure has always been to me the connections and bounds you create with people when you’re there. And you can have that anywhere.

It’s unresolved conflict in my life that I have a lovely family and a risky job.

Unless you have shelter, fire is going to be very hard and if you have fire, but no water, you’re going to die. They’re all super important.

When you find yourself thinking about someone or something in the same old negative way, just stop yourself. Think. Check. Change. Refresh. Job done. Smile. Move on. Do this enough times and you will change. For the better; for the stronger.

I try and eat really healthy when I’m home, but I certainly don’t eat worms and snakes.

I’ve fallen down crevasses, been bitten by snakes, been knocked unconscious, had various limbs broken and once, a heavy camera came plunging down which very nearly decapitated me.

I never wanted to do TV. I just did what I was trained to do through the Special Forces, and I’ve been doing that from a very young age.

Survival is not about being fearless. It’s about making a decision, getting on and doing it, because I want to see my kids again, or whatever the reason might be.

The appeal of the wild for me is its unpredictability. You have to develop an awareness, react fast, be resourceful and come up with a plan and act on it.

There’s no magic to running far or climbing Everest. Endurance is mental strength. It’s all about heart.

Success almost always follows great attitude. The two attract each other!

Never depend on those luck moments – they are gifts – but instead always build your own back-up plan.

Winning is very tangible, it’s very exciting, it’s very pleasing, but it’s momentary. If you can do things that last, that each generation can build upon, then that’s when you’re cooking.

Most sailing ships take what they call trainees, who pay to be part of the crew. The Picton Castle takes people who are absolutely raw recruits. But you can’t just ride along.

Alcohol may pick you up a little bit, but it lets you down in a hurry.

If we don’t watch out, the pleasure o be gained from the discriminating enjoyment of food will be lost. It may not be long before the art of fine cooking is viewed as the invention of a handful of snobs. . . .

Proust had his madeleines; I am devastated by the scent of yeast bread rising.

Grub first, then ethics.

Good manners: The noise you don’t make when you’re eating soup.

Banquet: a plate of cold, hairy chicken and artificially coloured green peas completely surrounded by dreary speeches and appeals for donations.