Reinhold Messner: The higher the mountain, less emotions. There is no place for emotions. There’s only the decision, “Now finally, I am able — I am free — to go down.” We force ourselves against our instinct of survival, our strongest instinct. An egotistical instinct is our instinct of survival. We have it. Who is telling me that he’s not egotistical is sick. We are all egotistical. And the human race is still alive because we are egotistical. Otherwise, I would do the first mistake and I would die out there. This instinct is keeping alive my body, my mind. But I go against my instinct higher and higher. My instinct is, in the last part, every step, saying, “Let it go down. It is too dangerous. You’ll go more and more in danger.” And on the summit, we are far, far away, farthest away from safety. So there is only the necessity, an inner necessity given us by this instinct of survival to go back.