Jane Goodall quotes

Jane Goodall is a British primatologist and anthropologist, world-renowned for her groundbreaking research on chimpanzees. Her pioneering work in Tanzania transformed the scientific understanding of primate behavior and animal intelligence. She continues to advocate for wildlife conservation and animal welfare across the globe. Here are 89 of her quotes:

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right.

Jane Goodall

The greatest danger to our future is apathy.

Jane Goodall

Every individual matters. Every individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.

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

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

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

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

The least I can do is speak out for the hundreds of chimpanzees who, right now, sit hunched, miserable and without hope, staring out with dead eyes from their metal prisons. They cannot speak for themselves.

Jane Goodall

The long hours spent with them in the forest have enriched my life beyond measure. What I have learned from them has shaped my understanding of human behavior, of our place in nature.

Jane Goodall

We have the choice to use the gift of our life to make the world a better place--or not to bother.

Jane Goodall

I wanted to talk to the animals like Dr. Dolittle.

Jane Goodall

Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is alright, as long your values don't change.

Jane Goodall

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.

Jane Goodall

I think if we study the primates, we notice that a lot of these things that we value in ourselves, such as human morality, have a connection with primate behavior.

Jane Goodall

In what terms should we think of these beings, nonhuman yet possessing so very many human-like characteristics? How should we treat them? Surely we should treat them with the same consideration and kindness as we show to other humans; and as we recognize human rights, so too should we recognize the rights of the great apes? Yes.

Jane Goodall

But let us not forget that human love and compassion are equally deeply rooted in our primate heritage, and in this sphere too our sensibilities are of a higher order of magnitude than those of chimpanzees.

Jane Goodall

I do not want to discuss evolution in such depth, however, only touch on it from my own perspective: from the moment when I stood on the Serengeti plains holding the fossilized bones of ancient creatures in my hands to the moment when, staring into the eyes of a chimpanzee, I saw a thinking, reasoning personality looking back. You may not believe in evolution, and that is all right. How we humans came to be the way we are is far less important than how we should act now to get out of the mess we have made for ourselves.

Jane Goodall

Especially now when views are becoming more polarized, we must work to understand each other across political, religious and national boundaries.

Jane Goodall

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature. And can I do that alone? No. So there is a whole army of youth that can do it. So I suppose my mission is to reach as many of those young people as I can through my own efforts.

Jane Goodall

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.

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

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