400 Quotes by Jane Goodall

Science demands objective factual evidence – proof; spiritual experience is subjective and leads to faith.

Words can be said in bitterness and anger, and often there seems to be an element of truth in the nastiness. And words don’t go away, they just echo around.

People don’t believe that their actions really and truly are going to make a difference. But kids get it. They know. And they get all excited about the difference they’re making.

I think the best evenings are when we have messages, things that make us think, but we can also laugh and enjoy each other’s company.

It’s not a pretty picture, but there are reasons for hope.

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 like to envision the whole world as a jigsaw puzzle... If you look at the whole picture, it is overwhelming and terrifying, but if you work on your little part of the jigsaw and know that people all over the world are working on their little bits, that’s what will give you hope.

Women tend to be more intuitive, or to admit to being intuitive, and maybe the hard science approach isn’t so attractive. The way that science is taught is very cold. I would never have become a scientist if I had been taught like that.

We can’t leave people in abject poverty, so we need to raise the standard of living for 80% of the world’s people, while bringing it down considerably for the 20% who are destroying our natural resources.