Jane Goodall Quotes - Page 9

I shouldn't have named the chimps. It wasn't scientific. I didn't know. I knew nothing. And worse sin of all was that I was ascribing to them emotions like happiness, sadness and so forth.

If harsher laws are put in place, less will dare to break them.

I never wanted to give up. I thought I might have to. Especially at the beginning when chimpanzees had never seen a white person before.They gave one look at me and ran away! They were scared, but eventually I got their trust.

If we start with chimpanzees, they differ from us with the composition of the DNA by only just over one percent. So, as far as genetics go, we're almost identical. The composition of the blood, the immune system, the structure of the brain - almost identical.

I don't think anybody has the right to a huge family. There's already more people on the planet than our natural resources can even support, and if everybody were to have a high standard of living, we need three or four or five new planets to provide the resources. And this cannot be, so something has to change.

It's the bond between mother and child, which is really for us and for chimps and other primates, the root of all the expressions of social behavior.

Primates are very territorial. It is in their nature to protect their food resources as well as their females and young.

At some point, my body will collapse. But I hope that my brain will still be working so that I can carry on with writing.

Researchers find it very necessary to keep blinkers on. They don't want to admit that the animals they are working with have feelings.

I had never been able to believe that God would give us poor frail humans only one chance at making it -- that we would be assigned to some kind of hell because we failed during one experience of mortal life. ... So the concepts of karma and reincarnation made logical sense to me.

I started as - well, I wanted to be Poet Laureate. And I wanted to be a naturalist. That's how I began. I didn't have any desire to go and be a scientist. Louis Leakey channeled me there. I'm delighted he did. I love science. I love analyzing and making sense of all these observations. So, it was the perfect rounding off of who I was into who I am.

I wasn't trying to be a scientist. I only ever wanted to be a naturalist, like a David Attenborough.

Nothing is more precious than your baby.

Chimpanzees can be quite political.

Of course we're all programmed genetically to some extent. But the "selfish gene" thesis doesn't explain everything.

I am living in the Africa I have always longed for, always felt stirring in my blood.

I believe that we have more capability than any other creature to control our biological inheritance - and we do so most of the time.

Chimps act the way they feel unless they are afraid of reprisal if they do so. But that doesn't apply to humans.

Terrorism is fueled by hate. The tragedy is that there are countless young children who are being taught to hate. Terrorism is usually fueled also by poverty.

Without the support of local people, you might as well give up because you can make all the noise you like, you can demarcate a national park, but if the people outside want to go creeping into a forest you really can't stop them. They've got to get a benefit.

If you look into their [chimpanzees] eyes, you know you're looking into a thinking mind. They teach us that we are not the only beings with personalities, minds capable of rational thought, altruism and a sense of humor. That leads to new respect for other animals, respect for the environment and respect for all life.

I had been told from school onwards that the best definition of a human being was man the tool-maker - yet I had just watched a chimp tool-maker in action. I remember that day as vividly as if it was yesterday.

I didn't want to become a professor or get tenure or teach or anything. All I wanted to do was get a degree because Louis Leakey said I needed one, which was right, and once I succeeded I could get back to the field.

I'm highly political. I spend an awful lot of time in the U.S. trying to influence decision-makers. But I don't feel in tune with British politics.

A good mother is protective but not over-protective. She's patient, she's affectionate, she's playful, but above all she is supportive.