Mountains mean something different to different people. For some, they’re but a scenic landscape, to others their playground, their home, or the place they go to re-energize. Much like most natural elements, mountains are also symbols. They often represent obstacles (and overcoming them), a spiritual or mental ascension (a climb), or persistence and immovability.
We’ve composed an extensive list of quotes about mountains so you can learn what these mean to some great thinkers, writers, and explorers. Are mountains the dwelling of gods? A task for the adventurous at heart? Or a symbol of seclusion and isolation?
Read our selection of quotes about mountains and figure the answer to these questions yourself!
Table of Contents
Best quotes about mountains
A temple, a haven, a person, a dream, a mystery. These are some of the ways that mountains are described. The following list contains some of the most inspiring quotes about mountains we could find. Who knows? Maybe they’ll prove to be useful in the future… So take notes.
May your dreams be larger than mountains and may you have the courage to scale their summits.”
Harley King
Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.”
Anatoli Boukreev
Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.”
Jeffrey Rasley
Many people find refuge in the tranquility and solitude of the mountains. So it should come as no surprise that many people try the climb not to challenge themselves or seek gratification, but to take their minds off their troubles.
So, this was what a mountain was like, the same as a person: the more you know, the less you fear.”
Wu Ming-Yi
When the wind calls, you know, that somewhere in the mountains, it has found the answers that you were looking for. The pull of the horizon overcomes the inertia of reason… And you just have to go.”
Vikram Oberoi
Only mountains can feel the frozen warmth of the sun through snow’s gentle caress on their peaks.”
Munia Khan
You are not in the mountains. The mountains are in you.”
John Muir
This mountain, the arched back of the earth risen before us, it made me feel humble, like a beggar, just lucky to be here at all, even briefly.”
Bridget Asher
With this, it’s almost as if Ms. Asher personifies the mountain… It becomes a giant, something (or someone) bigger than us, that humbles us and makes us feel small. An almost godlike character, just like how other people on this list have referred to it.
I like geography best because your mountains & rivers know the secret; Pay no attention to borders.”
Brian Andreas
What are men to rocks and mountains?”
Jane Austen
The way up to the top of the mountain is always longer than you think. Don’t fool yourself, the moment will arrive when what seemed so near is still very far.”
Paulo Coelho
Mountains know secrets we need to learn. That it might take time, it might be hard, but if you just hold on long enough, you will find the strength to rise up.”
Tyler Knott
Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So… get on your way!”
Dr. Seuss
When faced with a large project, remember you move a mountain one stone at a time.”
Catherine Pulsifer
Mountains teach that not everything in this world can be rationally explained.”
Aleksander Lwow
May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.”
Edward Abbey
Without mountains, we might find ourselves relieved that we can avoid the pain of the ascent, but we will forever miss the thrill of the summit. And in such a terribly scandalous trade-off, it is the absence of pain that becomes the thief of life.”
Craig D. Lounsbrough
Your faith can move mountains and your doubt can create them.”
Swami Vivekananda
Funny quotes about mountains
Who said literature and reflection must be serious? Adventure is meant to be fun and although sometimes precautions are necessary, humor is still one of the best remedies. But you don’t have to take my word for it! Instead, check out what these experienced folks had to say. Here’s our short but ever-amusing list of funny quotes about mountains.
Sometimes, you just need to change your altitude!”
Unknown
Until further notice, assume that we’re peaking.”
Unknown
There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
Sir Rannulph Fiennes
Life’s a bit like mountaineering – never look down.”
Edmund Hillary
If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal.”
Paulo Coelho
How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!”
John Muir
Many people would agree that the most beautiful sunset is upon the ocean. Well, I think the most beautiful sunrise comes from the mountains. It’s a very cinematic scene, to see a valley slowly become fully lit by the sunlight. Likewise, the valley will slwly become overcome by shadow, when the sun sets. But it’s undoubtedly a glorious greeting, the arrival of a new day.
He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.”
Friedrich Neitszche
My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.”
Aldous Huxley
Life sucks a lot less when you add mountain air, a campfire, and some peace and quiet.”
Brooke Hampton
Quotes about mountain views
Some prefer to view the mountains from below, others swear by the view from the top! You’ll soon understand that some landscapes are way more than what meets the eye. Here’s our selection of quotes about mountain views.
Climb mountains not so the world can see you, but so you can see the world.”
David McCullough Jr.
The climb speaks to our character, but the view, I think, to our souls.”
Lori Lansens
If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads.”
Anatole France
The best view comes after the hardest climb.”
Unknown
Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.
Dag Hammarskjold
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.”
Edward Abbey
The act of climbing a mountain is one of the most used metaphors for life. With this quote, we can recognize that danger, loneliness, pain and difficulty are things we all must overcome in life to be able to reach our goals – the amazing view.
Mountains are the beginning and end of all natural scenery.”
John Ruskin
Always be thankful for the little things… even the smallest mountains can hide the most breathtaking views!”
Nyki Mack
There’s a world out there, and you’ve got to look at both sides of the mountain in your lifetime.”
Bill Janklow
You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you’ve climbed a mountain.”
Tom Hiddleston
Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
Richard M. Nixon
Quotes about mountain climbing
When it comes to mountains, there’s no one better to assess the subject than of those who have conquered summits themselves.
We’ve assembled a humble collection of quotes about mountains by John Muir, Martin Conway, Rannulph Fiennes, and other mountain climbers and enthusiasts to motivate you to conquer both the literal and figurative mountains in your life.
When preparing to climb a mountain – pack a light heart.”
Dan May
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
John Muir
Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
Andy Rooney
I’ve realized that at the top of the mountain, there’s another mountain.”
Andrew Garfield
Each fresh peak ascended teaches something.”
Sir Martin Conway
A crude meal, no doubt, but the best of all sauces is hunger.”
Sir Rannulph Fiennes
You climb to reach the summit, but once there, discover that all roads lead down.”
Stanislaw Lem
The higher you climb on the mountain, the harder the wind blows.”
Sam Cummings
Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.”
Ed Viesturs
Getting to the top of any given mountain was considered much less important than how one got there: prestige was earned by tackling the most unforgiving routes with minimal equipment, in the boldest style imaginable.”
Jon Krakauer
Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.”
Greg Child
The choices we make lead up to actual experiences. It is one thing to decide to climb a mountain. It is quite another to be on top of it.”
Herbert A. Simon
The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain – he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem – he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved.”
William Arthur Ward
Quotes about mountains by Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary was a notorious New Zealand explorer and mountaineer. He’s credited to have been the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He was a navigator for the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II. He also later served as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh, as well as Ambassador to Nepal.
For being such a pioneer and having an understanding of mountains and mountaineering that most do not possess, we’ve decided to award him a category of his own quotes.
People do not decide to become extraordinary. They decide to accomplish extraordinary things.”
Edmund Hillary
I think it all comes down to motivation. If you really want to do something, you will work hard for it.”
Edmund Hillary
Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow in a high mountain gully and feel the same urge to climb towards it.”
Edmund Hillary
Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.”
Edmund Hillary
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
Edmund Hillary
When you go to the mountains, you see them and you admire them. In a sense, they give you a challenge, and you try to express that challenge by climbing them.”
Edmund Hillary
While on top of Everest, I looked across the valley towards the great peak Makalu and mentally worked out a route about how it could be climbed. It showed me that even though I was standing on top of the world, it wasn’t the end of everything. I was still looking beyond to other interesting challenges.”
Edmund Hillary
No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time.”
Edmund Hillary
Best mountain proverbs
Proverbs are lessons from the ones who came before us. They are advice based on common sense or experience. So naturally, we couldn’t possibly compile a list of inspirational quotes about mountains without including a few bits of ancient wisdom.
Put on your thinking hat and enjoy these mountain proverbs!
No matter how tall the mountain is, it cannot block the sun.”
Chinese Proverb
In a flat country, a hillock thinks itself a mountain.”
Turkish Proverb
Faith moves mountains.”
Traditional Proverb
The deepest sea has a bottom, the highest mountain has a summit.”
Chinese Proverb
Marry a mountain girl and you marry the whole mountain.”
Irish Proverb
If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must go to the mountain.”
Traditional Proverb
Growing up, I’ve heard this proverb more times that I can count. It roughly translates to: if you want something, don’t wait for it to happen, make it happen! It’s been a motivator for me since I was a child and it has definitely shaped my personality and made me the go-getter type I am today.
In a flat country, a hillock thinks itself a mountain.”
Kurdish Proverb
When the rain falls in the valley, the hill gets angry.”
Yoruba Proverb
Mountain quotes for Instagram
We saved our faves for last. Below are seven short quotes about mountains that aren’t so hard to interpret and even easier to agree with. These aren’t meant to be kept to ourselves but instead, shared with the world. Which is why they’ll make for the most amazing Instagram captions!
It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
Edmund Hillary
There are far better things ahead than the ones we leave behind.”
C. S. Lewis
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”
T. S. Eliot
To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles.”
Mary Davis
The mountains are calling and I must go.”
John Muir
The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.”
Paulo Coelho
Great men are rarely isolated mountain peaks; they are the summits of ranges.”
Thomas W. Higginson
And so our list of quotes about mountains has come to an end. We can only hope you found at least a few that inspired you in some way. If you know of any other quotes you like and we might have missed, go ahead and comment below! Oh, and do let us know which of these you liked best and will be using for your next Instagram caption.
We’ve also made compilations of hiking quotes, waterful quotes, and quotes about exploration. Give these a read to continue the motivational tour!
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