Jane Goodall was born in London on April 3rd, 1934. She is a British primatologist and ethologist, ethnologist, anthropologist, and zoologist who has spent over half a century studying chimpanzees in Tanzania. She is considered one of the world’s most renowned scientists of the 20th century.
Goodall studied philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge, and received her Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in 1957. Following her undergraduate studies, she traveled to Africa to study primates. There she developed an interest in chimpanzee behavior and began teaching herself about primatology. In 1960, she went back to Africa as a member of Dr. Louis Leakey’s team that found “Lucy.” In 1962, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which later became the Jane Goodall Institute. Her observations of their social interactions and daily activities became the foundation for a new ethology field.
Here we’ve compiled the list of her most inspiring quotes that will help you understand the human and nature.
31 Inspirational Jane Goodall Quotes You Must Read
1. “People say maybe we have a soul and chimpanzees don’t. I feel that it’s quite possible that if we have souls, chimpanzees have souls as well.” ― Jane Goodall
2. “Thousands of people who say they love animals sit down once or twice a day to enjoy the flesh of creatures who have been utterly deprived of everything that could make their lives worth living and who endured the awful suffering and the terror of the abattoirs.” ― Jane Goodall
3. “Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true potential.” ― Jane Goodall
4. “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.” ― Jane Goodall
5. “Cruelty is a terrible thing. I believe it is the worst human sin.” ― Jane Goodall
6. “It is these undeniable qualities of human love and compassion and self-sacrifice that give me hope for the future. We are, indeed, often cruel and evil. Nobody can deny this.
7. “One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.” ― Jane Goodall
8. “Each one of us matters, has a role to play, and makes a difference. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.” ― Jane Goodall
9. “And always I have this feeling ― which may not be true at all ― that I am being used as a messenger.” ― Jane Goodall
10. “The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” ― Jane Goodall
11. “The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” ― Jane Goodall
12. “We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love.” ― Jane Goodall
13. “There is a powerful force unleashed when young people resolve to make a change.” ― Jane Goodall
14. “Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don’t change.” ― Jane Goodall
15. “Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.” ― Jane Goodall
16. “Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.” ― Jane Goodall
17. “If we do not do something to help these creatures, we make a mockery of the whole concept of justice.” ― Jane Goodall
18. “You may not believe in evolution, and that’s all right. How we humans came to be the way we are is far less important than how we should act now to get out of the mess we have made for ourselves.” ― Jane Goodall
19. “To reconnect with nature is key if we want to save the planet.” ― Jane Goodall
20. “But if we want life, we will have to stop depending on someone else to save the world. It is up to us-you and me, all of us.” ― Jane Goodall
21. “A sense of calm came over me. More and more often I found myself thinking, “This is where I belong. This is what I came into this world to do.” ― Jane Goodall
22. “I’d like to be remembered as someone who really helped people to have a little humility and realize that we are part of the animal kingdom, not separated from it.” ― Jane Goodall
23. “We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place ― or not to bother.” ― Jane Goodall
24. “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ― Jane Goodall
25. “We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place–or not to bother.” ― Jane Goodall
26. “Someday we shall look back on this dark era of agriculture and shake our heads. How could we have ever believed that it was a good idea to grow our food with poisons? – Jane Goodall
27. “We find animals doing things that we, in our arrogance, used to think was “just human”.” ― Jane Goodall
28. “Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.” ― Jane Goodall
29. “We have a responsibility toward the other life-forms of our planet whose continued existence is threatened by the thoughtless behavior of our own human species … Environmental responsibility ― for if there is no God, then, obviously, it is up to us to put things right.” ― Jane Goodall
30. “Without patience, I could never have succeeded.” ― Jane Goodall
31. “It actually doesn’t take much to be considered a difficult woman. That’s why there are so many of us.” ― Jane Goodall
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