If it is a shame to be the second man on Mount Everest, then I will have to live with this shame.
Meaning of the quote
Being the first person to reach the top of a mountain is very prestigious, but Tenzing Norgay understood that even if he wasn't the first, he could still feel proud of his accomplishment. He didn't let the idea of not being the absolute best prevent him from achieving something amazing. Norgay was happy to have reached the summit, even if he wasn't the first one there.
About Tenzing Norgay
Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer, was one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. He accomplished this historic feat with Edmund Hillary in 1953. Norgay was later named one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century by Time magazine.