Mike Mchugh

“And always, he fought the temptation to choose a clear, safe course, warning 'That path leads ever down into stagnation.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune

“When I was leaving the auditorium at the end of one of my lectures, someone shouted out, "You've been lucky!" That's right, I thought, I've had more luck than any man deserves.”
― Reinhold Messner, My Life at the Limit

“I don't think psychoanalysis is nonsense necessarily; I just don't see the point of it. An analyst can find out where the problem lie, but a witch from the jungle can do that as well. If I'm not allowed to live my own life, no psychologist is ever going to be able to help me. The real problem is that most people don't live their lives, they just get by somehow.”
― Reinhold Messner, My Life at the Limit

“I believe that, in Europe at least, we have made the mistake - politically speaking - of taking too much responsibility away from people. Citizens who once took responsibility for themselves have become dependents, demanding more of everything - subsidies, incomes, pensions. When the responsibility is taken away from them, people's aspirations dwindle, until finally we reach a state of zero growth and begin to descend into social chaos, a state of limbo. Welfare democracy is a dead-end street. What I always wanted was maximum responsibility for my own life. I've always had high expectations of myself. Others call it ambition.”
― Reinhold Messner, My Life at the Limit