Wanderlust

You know I find nowadays that if you’re going to take an expedition somewhere, you really have to have a scientific excuse in order to get off the ground at all. I firmly believe that although this may be true, and although the scientific program may be well worth while, the people who become involved in expeditions still do so not entirely because of the scientific work that they wish to carry out, but basically because they are explorers at heart. I do not believe that the scientists of today who explore in the unknown places of our globe and in space are any different from the explorers of the past who had very limited scientific objectives and who just wanted to get out there, have a look, and see what happened out there.

—Sir Edmund Hillary, from a speech delivered at the Explorers Club Night of Exploration Dinner, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, November 2, 1962.