Jane Goodall Quotes

Early experiences convinced me that animals can and do have quite distinct personalities.

On the day-long follows that I used to do with mothers and their offspring - these chimp families that I knew so well - there was hardly a day when I didn't learn something new about them.

Animals do not admire each other. A horse does not admire its companion.

Animals in general have sparked a weird depression in me, because as much as I tried, I couldn't layer a personality over them. You know what I mean? I would stare at the cows, and I would sing to the cows, and they would always just look at me blankly.

I've always been interested in animal behavior, and I keep reading about it because it's so surprising all the time - so many things are happening around us that we neglect to look at. Part of the passion I have for biology is based on this wonderment.

Closeness to animals creates the desire to understand them, and not just a little piece of them, but the whole animal. It makes us wonder what goes on in their heads even though we fully realize that the answer can only be approximated.

When a herd of cattle see a strange object, they are not satisfied till each one has sniffed it; and the horse is cured of his fright at the robe, or the meal-bag, or other object, as soon as he can be induced to smell it. There is a great deal of speculation in the eye of an animal, but very little science.

A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.

I love researching. That's one of my favorite parts about school.

The search for knowledge is a long and difficult task.

You don't know whether chimps are going to kill you or kiss you. They're very open on some levels and much more evil in a certain way.

I was always interested in animals, but when I was little, animal behavior was still a new science. It was available to become a veterinarian, it was available to study biology, but not specifically animal behavior. In the '60s, Jane Goodall was the founder of this new science.

The library was the place I went to find out what there was to know. It was absolutely essential.

Sometimes I read about someone saying with great authority that animals have no intentions and no feelings, and I wonder, 'Doesn't this guy have a dog?'

You look at a herd of cattle and well, they all look the same... but they know. They all have an individual personality, and those personalities change from day to day. They can have their grumpy days and their happy days and their serene days. But it's unpredictable. You can't be off in outer space when you're dealing with animals.

I never thought I could learn much from a dog or cat. They sleep when we sleep. They eat when we eat. I'm into observing animals being as wild as they can be in a captive environment.

Vast is the field of Science. The more a man knows, the more he will find he has to know.

The more self-aware an animal is, the more empathetic it tends to be.

You don't read in your own field. You read in that field when you're young, so that you can learn.

You discover yourself through the research of your work.

I'm really enjoying the process of learning to fly. How it will fit into my life down the road - I'm looking forward to discovering that.

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.

Animals often strike us as passionate machines.

Life is about learning; when you stop learning, you die.

Science should be the most fun job on the planet. You get to ask questions about the world around you and go out and seek the answers. Not to have fun doing that is crazy.