Jane Goodall Quotes

Some people say... that violence and war are inevitable. I say rubbish: Our brains are fully capable of controlling instinctive behavior. We're not very good at it though, are we?

Unfortunately, Doug, we have lost the long-term perspective, and we are suffering from an absurd and very unwise belief that there can be unlimited economic development on a planet of finite natural resources, focusing on short-term results or profits at the expense of long-term interests.

"The first time I saw adult chimpanzees in these five-by-five foot cages... tears began to trickle down under my mask, and [JoJo, a chimp,] just reached out this gentle finger and wiped them away... And then the veterinarian came. He knelt down beside me and put his arm around me. He said, "I have to face this every day.

Of course, a great deal of our onslaught on Mother Nature is not really lack of intelligence but a lack of compassion for future generations and the health of the planet: sheer selfish greed for short-term benefits to increase the wealth and power of individuals, corporations and governments. The rest is due to thoughtlessness, lack of education, and poverty. In other words, there seems to be a disconnect between our clever brain and our compassionate heart. True wisdom requires both thinking with our head and understanding with our heart.

How can you stop yourself from yelling and shouting and accusing everyone of cruelty? The easy answer is that the aggressive approach simply doesn't work.

I went to an empty henhouse [when I was four and a half], hid in the straw at the back, and waited, and the family had no idea where I was... My mother sees this excited little girl rushing toward the house all covered in straw. Instead of getting mad at me, which would've killed the excitement, she saw my shining eyes and sat down to hear this wonderful story of how a hen lays an egg.

don’t really like to go for a walk without a dog.” “Why is that?” “A dog gives a walk a purpose.” “How?” “Well, you are making someone else happy.

Trees are living beings. And they have their own personalities... There are the young, eager saplings, all striving with each other... If you put your cheek against one of those, you almost sense the sap rising and the energy.

Just tell people stories, try and find out who they are, try and find something that links you with them.

We’re not really a very intelligent species when we destroy our home.

And always I have this feeling — which may not be true at all — that I am being used as a messenger.

The harmony of natural law … reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.

People say to me so often, 'Jane how can you be so peaceful when everywhere around you people want books signed, people are asking these questions and yet you seem peaceful,' and I always answer that it is the peace of the forest that I carry inside.

Without patience I could never have succeeded.

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.