Seen through Dag Hammarskjöld’s life, the maxim reads as disciplined courage. As UN Secretary-General (1953–1961), he faced the Suez Crisis and the Congo conflict, elevating peacekeeping from ad hoc interventions to structured missions (the first UNEF emerged in 1956). His posthumous journal, Markings (1963), reveals an ethic of austere ambition—aiming high while tethered to service and conscience. Even his final mission, ending in a fatal 1961 plane crash near Ndola, reflected a readiness to undertake perilous tasks for a principled end. In this context, the “highest cloud” is not self-glorification but a moral horizon, and the “lofty mountain” is institutional progress achieved along the way. Consequently, the quote invites leaders to pair bold targets with duty-bound humility. [...]
