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 GoodallRead
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."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The natural world functions best when left undisturbed by human interference.
Jane Goodall's quote highlights the importance of allowing nature to thrive without human intervention. It emphasizes that the natural world has its own processes and systems that work harmoniously when we do not interfere, suggesting that humanity should respect and protect these systems rather than attempt to control or change them.
Themes
NatureInterferenceRespectWildlifeEnvironment
In practice
Example use cases
During an environmental conference, one could use this quote to emphasize the need for conservation.
More from Jane Goodall
All quotes →I was born in London in England in 1934. I went through, as a child, the horrors of World War II, through a time when food was rationed and we learned to be very careful, and we never had more to eat than what we needed to eat. There was no waste. Everything was used.
Jane GoodallRead
Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutan shave been living for hundreds of thousands of years in their forest,living fantastic lives, never overpopulating, never destroying the forest. I would say that they have been in a way more successful than us as far as being in harmony with the environment.
Jane GoodallRead
There are an awful lot of scientists today who believe that before very long we shall have unraveled all the secrets of the universe. There will be no puzzles anymore. To me, it'd be really, really tragic because I think one of the most exciting things is this feeling of mystery, feeling of awe, the feeling of looking at a little live thing and being amazed by it and how it has emerged through these hundreds of years of evolution and there it is and it is perfect and why.
Jane GoodallRead
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 GoodallRead
Especially now when views are becoming more polarized, we must work to understand each other across political, religious and national boundaries.
Jane GoodallRead
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Environmental justice [means that] no community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less environmental benefits than any other.
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We are living in a science-fiction nightmare where children are gasping for breath on bad-air days because somebody gave money to a politician. And my children and the kids of millions of other Americans can no longer go fishing and eat their catch because somebody gave money to a politician.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Read