Jane Goodall is an English philanthropist and foremost leading expert on chimpanzees in the world. This formidable woman is 86 years young and has built an illustrious career in the fields of primatology and anthropology over the past six decades. Goodall’s dive into the world of anthropomorphism, which is the study of human characteristics in animals, began with a tribe of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in 1960.
Even today, Goodall continues her passionate fight for the rights of animals, including founding her own organization, the Jane Goodall Institute, that works towards environment and wildlife conservation, as well as numerous other grassroots level programs. A life of ups and downs has given this animal expert a better understanding of humankind and the world. These inspiring words from her will remind you of the bitterness, beauty, and balance in the world that all of us can and should embrace!
1. “Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.”
2. “Empathy is really important... Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our full potential.”
3. “The greatest danger to our future is apathy.”
4. “Cumulatively small decisions, choices, actions, make a very big difference.”
5. “Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.”
6. “I had a wonderful teacher about animal behavior - my dog Rusty. He taught me that animals have personalities, minds, and feelings.”
7. “We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place--or not to bother.”
8. “We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love.”
9. “I think 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.”
10. “We could change the world tomorrow if all the millions of people around the world acted the way they believe.”
11. “The only possible way to get somebody to change is to reach into their hearts.”
12. “I have found that to love and be loved is the most empowering and exhilarating of all human emotions.”
13. “I think the most important thing to do is to be willing to listen, willing to care, and willing to admit mistakes and change your ways for the better!”
14. “Science demands objective factual evidence - proof; spiritual experience is subjective and leads to faith.”
15. “What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language.”
16.“Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don't change.”
17. “Every individual can make a difference every day by making conscious choices.”
18. “If you work hard and be persistent, you will achieve whatever you want to do.”
19. “Every stage of my life set the scene for the next, and at each point all I had to do was say "yes" and not think too much about the consequences.”
20. “Never be arrogant or abrasive. Treat your opponent respectfully if they really and truly believe they are right.”
21. “My hope for the future is that we learn wisdom again.”
22. “I think the most important thing is to keep active, and to hope that your mind stays active.”
23. “I believe that accurate knowledge is very, very important, but find that out in free time. Don't let it take over every hour of the day. Perhaps most important, talk about it.”
24. “If you consciously say 'I won't do it!' to yourself, then you have a good chance that you won't.”
