Speech quotes

“It’s a long story, but a few years ago, Kirgiz men rode over the Irshad
Pass to the Charpurson Valley, where I work in Pakistan, and asked me to
build schools for their villages. I promised them I’d come… discuss
schools with them, but I couldn’t get there until now.”

This explanation to the king of Afghanistan reveals Greg’s strong sense

of dedication. This shows his dedication because he made a promise many
years ago and he never forgot to fulfill his promise.

“But that didn’t sound like much of an excuse to me,” Mortenson says. “We
had no problem flying in bags of cash to pay the warlords to fight
against the Taliban. I wondered why we couldn’t do the same thing to
build roads, and sewers, and schools. If promises are not fulfilled, and
cash not delivered, it sends a powerful message that the U.S. government
simply does not care.”

This quotes show Mortenson to be a very candid person. He is candid

because he will say what he believes even if it is going against his own
government—and may not be well-received. He is giving his government
advice and essentially saying everything that his government has been
doing is very unwise and could lead toward their downfall.

“If you really want to change, to empower women, improve basic hygiene
and health care, and fight high rates of infant mortality, the answer is
to educate girls.”

This belief of Greg Mortenson’s reveals him to have a strong sense of

passion for doing what is right. Through believing that educating women
fixes virtually all of the problems experienced by the Northern
Pakistani, Greg is able find a purpose for his life.

Action Quotes

Mortenson convinced a startled staff physician to release Hoerni into his

care, ordered a black Lincoln that drove them to the penthouse apartment
on the shore of Lake Washington. Too weak to hold a phone, Hoerni leafed
through a leather-bound address book and asked, Mortenson says, to have
flowers sent to several long-lost friends.

This quote shows Mortenson to be a very kind and loyal individual. This
is shown by Mortenson willing to bend the rules to be Hoerni out of the
hospital and by Mortenson getting Hoerni a ride to his home. Also, his
extreme kindness is shown by his willingness to send the flowers to
Hoerni’s relatives because Hoerni himself is too weak.

During the days he wasn’t working, Mortenson hunted and pecked his way
through hundreds of letters. He wrote to every U.S. senator. He haunted
the public library, scanning the kind of pop culture magazines he would
never otherwise read for the names of movie stars and pop singers, which
he added to a list he kept folded inside a Ziploc bag. He copied down
addresses from a book ranking the one hundred richest Americans.

This quote reveals Mr. Mortenson to have a strong sense of determination.

Through his willingness to devote every free second of his life to
getting donations if becomes apparent the Greg will stop at nothing to
build his school.

Internal Thought Quotes

Five hundred and eighty letters, twelve rams, and ten years of work was a
small price to pay, Mortenson thought, for such a moment.

This thought shows that Greg Mortenson is a very patient and optimistic
person. He is patient simply because he was willing to make the 580
letters and work hard for 10 years. He is show to be an optimistic person
because he believes everything he has done and sacrificed is worth what
he has created.
On the Ariana 727 to Dubai, the British Air 777 to London, and the Delta
767 to D.C., Mortenson felt like a heat-seeking missile speeding toward
his own government, fueled by outrage.

This quote reveals Greg to have a strong sense of justice. Through his
belief that his government is making horrible injustice decisions in
foreign affairs Mortenson feels that destruction of his own government
would be better than letting it continue on the path that it is on.

Mortenson did think about it. The good that would radiate out from one
hundred schools was constantly on his mind and he toyed with taking the
military’s money throughout much of 2002, though he knew he never could.

This quote reveals Greg to be a very pragmatic and intelligent person. By

refusing to take the governments money he made it clear he knew that his
reputation would be destroyed increasing his risk of murder in Pakistan.
He then displayed his logic by revealing that he was aware that build one
hundred schools now would not be as wise as build who knows how many
schools in the rest of his career.

Appearance Quotes

He now wore a photographer’s vest over his simple shalwar kamiz, with
pockets enough to accommodate the detritus that swirled nowadays around
the frenzied director of the Central Asia Institute.

This choice of clothing reveals Greg Mortenson to be very humble and

practical. This is because although he is the head of a huge
international company, he dresses as simple as he can. Although most
company founders would insist on wearing very expensive articles of
clothing wherever they went, Greg is content to wear the bare minimum.
Also, in choosing to wear a photographer’s vest as his only article of
clothing that is not needed for plain survival, Greg makes it clear that
he will make the most of every single possession he owns.

“He stopped climbing and exercising. He stopped sleeping. He began to

gain so much weight he didn’t even look like a mountaineer anymore.”

The appearance Greg begins to take on reveals him to be a workaholic. In

his stopping of all of his activities other than maintaining the CAI,
Greg makes it apparent that he will stop at nothing to provide aid to the
Northern Pakistan.

Opinions of other people

“What Greg’s doing is just as important as any bombs that are being
dropped,” Marshall quoted Krakauer as saying. “If the Central Asia
Institute were not doing what it’s doing, people in that region would
probably be chanting, ‘We hate Americans!’ Instead, they see us as agents
of their salvation.”

This quote shows that Greg is thought to be a hero. This is because

people believe that if Greg wasn’t doing what he was doing the Pakistani
people would revolt and possibly attempt to attack America. Greg is seen
as a savior and protector of not only the Pakistani people but the
Americans too.

“These horrible hate letters are a mandate for you to get out and tell
Americans what you know about Muslims. You represent the goodness and
courage that America is all about. Get out, don’t be afraid, and spread
your message for peace. Make this your finest hour.”

This quote shows that Greg cannot work without any encouragement and
reveals that he isn’t some super fighter but is in fact a human. This is
believed his donor when she gives him encouragement to follow the right
course and not give up.