Robert Falcon Scott

"Great God! this is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority."

"Make the boy interested in natural history if you can; it is better than games; they encourage it in some schools."

"Should this be found I want these facts recorded. Oates’ last thoughts were of his Mother, but immediately before he took pride in thinking that his regiment would be pleased with the bold way in which he met his death. We can testify to his bravery. He has borne intense suffering for weeks without complaint, and to the very last was able and willing to discuss outside subjects. He did not – would not – give up hope to the very end. He was a brave soul. This was the end. He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning – yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’ He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since."

"The Beardmore Glacier is not difficult in fine weather, but on our return we did not get a single completely fine day; this with a sick companion enormously increased our anxieties."

"We arrived within 11 miles of our old One Ton Camp with fuel for one hot meal and food for two days. For four days we have been unable to leave the tent - the gale howling about us. We are weak, writing is difficult, but for my own sake I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past. We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last. . . . We have been willing to give our lives to this enterprise, which is for the honour of our country."

"thumb|I do not regret this journey, which has shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and meet death with as great a fortitude as ever in the past - Plaque on the wikipedia:Scott_Statue|Scott Statue, Christchurch, New ZealandFor God's sake look after our people."

"Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for."

"I have done this to show what an Englishman can do."

"I will not pause to consider what the scientific results of this expedition will be, or the contributions that may be expected to geology, meteorology, magnetism, hydrography, marine biology, and other branches of knowledge. Time will show their extent and value. Captain Scott, dragging his 35-pound weight of fossils with him to his death-tent, did not, at any rate, despise their scientific importance. But surely the question is not whether the world is the better or the wiser because we know something more about the conditions of the frozen world at the Southern Pole. It does not matter to us very much that it was originally united to the Australasian and South American continents, that it once enjoyed a more temperate climate, or that forests flourished there which have left traces of coal beneath the ice and the snow. But it does matter to us and to the entire world a great deal that men have been found in this as in earlier and perhaps more virile ages to run great risks for a great idea, to count life itself as dust in the balance compared with supreme human endeavour, and to meet death without repining even on the threshold of victory and fame."

"how old was I when I got permanently fascinated with the early Antarctic explorers, Scott particularly, and all those ones, those early British ones who wrote about it, and some of the others too. They were such good writers, marvelous writers, Scott himself and Shackleton."