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What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language.

Jane Goodall

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Jane Goodall
Age: 90
Born: 1934
Born: April 3
Anthropologist
Environmentalist
Ethologist
Primatologist
University Teacher
Writer
Hampstead Village
Dame Jane Morris Goodall
Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall
Dame Jane Goodall
Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall
Ability
Language
Makes
Human
Sophisticated
Humans
Spoken
Think
Consequence
Thinking
Questions
Asks

More quotes by Jane Goodall

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Language allows us to talk about the past and plan the future. We can teach children about things that are not present. And above all, we can bring people with different backgrounds and different knowledge together to discuss our problems. This actually gives me hope. I still think we are smart enough to not destroy planet Earth, our only home.
Jane Goodall
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I thought my life was mapped out. Research, living in the forest, teaching and writing. But in '86 I went to a conference and realised the chimpanzees were disappearing. I had worldwide recognition and a gift of communication. I had to use them.
Jane Goodall
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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.
Jane Goodall
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Animals are as deserving of a place on this planet as we are, and the difference between us is that humans have a voice they can use to help the animal cause, and it is up to all of us to use it to make a positive difference!
Jane Goodall
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It was both fascinating and appalling to learn that chimpanzees were capable of hostile and territorial behavior that was not unlike certain forms of primitive human warfare.
Jane Goodall
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Certainly it's very often true that women tend to be a bit quieter and more prepared to sit there and let the animal tell you things.
Jane Goodall
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I cannot remember a time when I did not want to go to Africa to study animals.
Jane Goodall
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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.
Jane Goodall
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If you catch somebody doing something wrong, he will just cringe away and curl up. He will not listen anymore. Instead, he will think of how he can counterattack.
Jane Goodall
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Other people have talked about chimpanzees being a window into the past, which I suppose is true, in a way.
Jane Goodall
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I believe that the tragedy [like terror attack] that's caused so much grief and suffering to so many thousands and thousands of people has also served as a call to action, because many people now are re-examining their own value systems, and the churches, temples, mosques and cathedrals are packed to overflowing for the first time in years.
Jane Goodall
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I sometimes wonder how some people can live with themselves in some of the big companies today. So many far-reaching decisions are based on how they will affect the next shareholders' meeting.
Jane Goodall
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If you look through all the different cultures. Right from the earliest, earliest days with the animistic religions, we have sought to have some kind of explanation for our life, for our being, that is outside of our humanity.
Jane Goodall
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We, as humans, have actually developed a sense of social responsibility. We have gone beyond our basic instincts.
Jane Goodall
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Some humans are mathematicians-others aren't.
Jane Goodall
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If a chimp who has been abused horribly by humans can help a human friend in a time of need, how much more should we help the animals - and other people for that matter - in their time of need?
Jane Goodall
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Just remember--if you are really and truly determined to work with animals, somehow, either now or later, you will find a way to do it. But you have to want it desperately, work hard, take advantage of an opportunity--and never give up.
Jane Goodall
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The voice of the natural world would be, Could you please give us space and leave us alone to get along with our own lives and our own ways, because we actually know much better how to do it then when you start interfering.
Jane Goodall
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Especially females and the younger ones like to be with somebody who is wise.
Jane Goodall
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If we allow the destruction of the environment, we can see the terrorists have utterly won, and are destroying the future of our children and grandchildren. We must not let that happen.
Jane Goodall