You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

To look at the height of Snäfell it seemed impossible to reach the summit. But after an hours' fatigue and athletic exercise, a sort of staircase suddenly appeared in the midst of the vast carpet of snow lying on the croup of the volcano, and this greatly simplified our ascent. (p. 73)

Climb the stairway of your imagination

Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase.

The staircase was deserted — the higher up the building the more reluctant were the residents to use the stairs, as if this in some way demeaned them.

I like to think of stairs, if I may. Stairs because we have climbed a few steps, but a lot more steps remain to be climbed on the way up to the top.

This is the predicament of man. All souls descend a ladder form heaven to the world. Then the ladders are taken away. Once they are in this world, they are called upon from heaven to rise, to come back. It is a call that goes out again and again. Each soul seeks the ladder in order to ascend above; but the ladder cannot be found. Most people make no effort to ascend, claiming, how can one rise to heaven without a ladder? However, there are souls which resolve to leap upwards without a ladder. So they jump and fall down. They jump and fall down, until they stop. Wise people think that since no ladder exists, there must be another way. We must face the challenge and act. Be what it may, one must leap until God, in His mercy, makes exultation come about.

Life is like a staircase. Some climb it, others stumble and fall, but those who reach the top realize the true worth of their journey.

Sometimes, that mountain you've been climbing, is just a grain of sand.

What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too.

Go where there is no path and leave a trail.

The staircase that leads to God. What does it matter if it is make-believe, if we really climb it? What difference does it make who builds it, or if it is made of marble or word, of brick, stone, or mud? The essential thing is that it be solid and that in climbing it we feel the peace that is inaccessible to those who do not climb it.

We now can replace the smooth slope corresponding to the continuous motion of the object with a kind of staircase representing a jerky motion in which the velocity abruptly changes by small increments and remains constant for a short time until the next jerk takes place.

Walking twenty-five miles, or even running up the stairs and back, suddenly seemed pointless, since without the steps being counted and registered, what use were they?