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304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
It seemed that we had fallen through a crack in the sky into some frozen hell from which no return to the ordinary world was even possible.
... the Andes had been thrust up from the earth's crust millions of years before humans ever walked the planet. Nothing in this place welcomed human life, or even acknowledged its existence. The cold tormented us. The thin air starved our lungs.
Life is an anomaly here, and the mountains will tolerate that anomaly for only so long.
The rules here were too savage and strange, and I knew I could never imagine the hardships, setbacks, and horrors that might lie ahead. So I would teach myself to live in constant uncertainty, moment by moment, step by step. I would live as if I were dead already
Death has an opposite, but the opposite is not mere living. It is not courage or faith or human will. The opposite of death is love. ... Love is our only weapon. Only love can turn mere life into a miracle, and draw precious meaning from suffering and fear. For a brief, magical moment, all my fears lifted, and I knew that I would not let death control me. I would walk through the godforsaken country that separated me from my home with love and hope in my heart. I would walk until I had walked all the life out of me, and when I fell I would die that much closer to my father.
... they can see that even in the face of cruelest kind of suffering, and against all odds, an ordinary person can endure.
Savor your existence. Live every moment. Do not waste a breath.