Born in London (1934), Dame Jane Goodall revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzees through her meticulous research in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park.
Passionate about animal behavior since childhood, her journey began assisting the renowned Louis Leakey, leading to her setting up camp in Gombe in 1960.
Getting a Ph.D. from Cambridge without an initial degree, Goodall disproved many existing beliefs about chimps.
Discovering they were omnivores, tool users and had intricate social structures, she documented these findings in acclaimed publications.
Her commitment to conservation birthed the Jane Goodall Institute and other initiatives.
Awarded the Templeton Prize (2021) and the Stephen Hawking Medal (2022), Goodall’s incredible life was showcased in the 2017 documentary “Jane.”
Jane Goodall is the world’s top expert in understanding chimpanzees.
Here is collection of the best quotes by Jane Goodall.
Best Jane Goodall Quotes
The only possible way to get somebody to change is to reach into their hearts. ~ Jane Goodall.
My hope for the future is that we learn wisdom again. ~ Jane Goodall.
I believe the only hope for mankind lies in the hands of our young people. ~ Jane Goodall.
Cumulatively small decisions, choices, actions, make a very big difference. ~ Jane Goodall.
Having respect for animals makes us better humans… ~ Jane Goodall.
I wanted to talk to the animals like Dr. Dolittle. ~ Jane Goodall.
What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. ~ Jane Goodall.
We find animals doing things that we, in our arrogance, used to think was just human. ~ Jane Goodall.
We are unique. Chimpanzees are unique. Dogs are unique. But we humans are just not as different as we used to think. ~ Jane Goodall.
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. ~ Jane Goodall.
It’s up to us to save the world for tomorrow: it’s up to you and me. ~ Jane Goodall.
From my perspective, I absolutely believe in a greater spiritual power, far greater than I am, from which I have derived strength in moments of sadness or fear. That’s what I believe, and it was very, very strong in the forest. ~ Jane Goodall.
Inspiring Jane Goodall Quotes
You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make. ~ Jane Goodall.
I was the sort of person who didn’t care about hairdressing and clothes and parties and boyfriends. I really wanted to be in the wild. ~ Jane Goodall.
My mother always taught us that if people don’t agree with you, the important thing is to listen to them. But if you’ve listened to them carefully and you still think that you’re right, then you must have the courage of your convictions. ~ Jane Goodall.
I think empathy is really important, and I think only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our full potential. ~ Jane Goodall.
To me, cruelty is the worst of human sins. Once we accept that a living creature has feelings and suffers pain, then by knowingly and deliberately inflicting suffering on that creature, we are guilty, whether it be human or animal. ~ Jane Goodall.
I don’t care two hoots about civilization. I want to wander in the wild. ~ Jane Goodall.
I don’t think that faith, whatever you’re being faithful about, really can be scientifically explained. And I don’t want to explain this whole life business through truth, science. There’s so much mystery. There’s so much awe. ~ Jane Goodall.
One individual cannot possible make a difference, alone. It is individual efforts, collectively, that makes a noticeable difference – all the difference in the world! ~ Jane Goodall.
Your life matters. You can’t live through a day without making an impact on the world. And what’s most important is to think about the impact of your actions on the world around you. ~ Jane Goodall.
Famous Jane Goodall Quotes
Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference. ~ Jane Goodall.
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. ~ Jane Goodall.
My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature. ~ Jane Goodall.
Today it is generally accepted that although the earliest humans probably ate some meat, it was unlikely to have played a major role in their diet. Plants would have been a much more important source of food. ~ Jane Goodall.
When you meet chimps you meet individual personalities. When a baby chimp looks at you it’s just like a human baby. We have a responsibility to them. ~ Jane Goodall.
The most important thing is to actually think about what you do. To become aware and actually think about the effect of what you do on the environment and on society. That’s key, and that underlies everything else. ~ Jane Goodall.
The greatest danger to our future is apathy. ~ Jane Goodall.
You aren’t going to save the world on your own. But you might inspire a generation of kids to save it for all of us. You would be amazed at what inspired children can do. ~ Jane Goodall.
Popular Jane Goodall Quotes
The cheapest and most efficient way of slowing down global warming is to protect and restore the forests, particularly the tropical forests. ~ Jane Goodall.
I urge you to read Eternal Treblinka and think deeply about its important message. ~ Jane Goodall.
One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun. ~ Jane Goodall.
Young people, when informed and empowered, when they realize that what they do truly makes a difference, can indeed change the world. ~ Jane Goodall.
It would be absolutely useless for any of us to work to save wildlife without working to educate the next generation of conservationists. ~ Jane Goodall.
If we kill off the wild, then we are killing a part of our souls. ~ Jane Goodall.
What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language. ~ Jane Goodall.
Here we are, the most clever species ever to have lived. So how is it we can destroy the only planet we have? ~ Jane Goodall.
We could change the world tomorrow if all the millions of people around the world acted the way they believe. ~ Jane Goodall.
To me, trees are living beings and they have their own sort of personalities. ~ Jane Goodall.
Great Jane Goodall Quotes
Whatever we believe about how we got to be the extraordinary creatures we are today is far less important than bringing our intellect to bear on how do we get together now around the world and get out of the mess that we’ve made. That’s the key thing now. Never mind how we got to be who we are. ~ Jane Goodall.
Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right. ~ Jane Goodall.
Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love. ~ Jane Goodall.
The hardest part of returning to a truly healthy environment may be changing the current totally unsustainable heavy-meat-eating culture of increasing numbers of people around the world. But we must try. We must make a start, one by one. ~ Jane Goodall.
I like some animals more than some people, some people more than some animals. ~ Jane Goodall.
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.
Children can change the world. ~ Jane Goodall.
I’ve always felt you don’t have to be completely detached, emotionally uninvolved to make precise observations. There’s nothing wrong with feeling great empathy for your subjects. ~ Jane Goodall.
We are beginning to learn that each animal has a life and a place and a role in this world. If we place compassion and care in the middle of all our dealings with the animal world and honor and respect their lives, our attitudes will change. ~ Jane Goodall.
Top Jane Goodall Quotes
There isn’t a sharp line dividing humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. All the time, we find animals doing things that, in our arrogance, we thought were just human. ~ Jane Goodall.
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.
As thy days, so shall thy strength be. ~ Jane Goodall.
Well, in some ways we’re not successful at all. We’re destroying our home. That’s not a bit successful. ~ Jane Goodall.
You cannot share your life with a dog, as I had done in Bournemouth, or a cat, and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings. ~ Jane Goodall.
I wouldn’t even like to begin to define God – I have absolutely no idea. But what I feel, and what touches me, is a great spiritual power, which I don’t even want to name. If I had to, I would say God, because I don’t know any other. ~ Jane Goodall.
Thought-Provoking Jane Goodall Quotes
You’re thinking about putting scientists into small cages and doing research on them. I wish it could happen sometimes. ~ Jane Goodall.
I have found that to love and be loved is the most empowering and exhilarating of all human emotions. ~ Jane Goodall.
Science demands objective factual evidence – proof; spiritual experience is subjective and leads to faith. ~ Jane Goodall.
The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves. ~ Jane Goodall.
I think the most important thing is to keep active and to hope that your mind stays active. ~ Jane Goodall.
I am living in the Africa I have always longed for, always felt stirring in my blood. ~ Jane Goodall.
If we could just stop building up armies and things like that, we would have all the money we need for wildlife and poverty. ~ Jane Goodall.
Anyone who tries to improve the lives of animals invariably comes in for criticism from those who believe such efforts are misplaced in a world of suffering humanity. ~ Jane Goodall.
Profound Jane Goodall Quotes
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.
I think we must cling to the hope that we can see in the great heroism, the bravery of the firemen and policemen, and the outpouring of caring and concern that has come pouring in from around the world. ~ Jane Goodall.
Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our true potential. ~ Jane Goodall.
Chimps are very quick to have a sudden fight or aggressive episode, but they’re equally as good at reconciliation. ~ Jane Goodall.
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. ~ Jane Goodall.
It made me feel particularly sickened to know that this kind of callous attitude toward animals is repeated again and again in laboratories around this country. ~ Jane Goodall.
Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don’t change. ~ Jane Goodall.
When I go back to Gombe it’s to be in that timeless world where it’s soft and where life is entwined and you actually see the pattern of nature. I always feel this great spiritual power which I believe is around. ~ Jane Goodall.
Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved. ~ Jane Goodall.
I had a wonderful teacher about animal behavior – my dog Rusty. He taught me that animals have personalities, minds, and feelings. ~ Jane Goodall.
Powerful Jane Goodall Quotes
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.
Be assured that our individual actions, collectively, make a huge difference. ~ Jane Goodall.
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.
We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love. ~ Jane Goodall.
Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved. ~ Jane Goodall.
Thoughtful Jane Goodall Quotes
Chimps taught us we’re not separated from the animal kingdom, we’re a part of it. ~ Jane Goodall.
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. ~ Jane Goodall.
If only we can overcome cruelty, to human and animal, with love and compassion we shall stand at the threshold of a new era in human moral and spiritual evolution – and realize, at last, our most unique quality: humanity. ~ Jane Goodall.
So these were the 83 top Jane Goodall quotes and sayings.
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