As a small child in England, I had this dream of going to Africa. We didn't have any money, and I was a girl, so everyone except my mother laughed at it. When I left school, there was no money for me to go to university, so I went to secretarial college and got a job.

— Jane Goodall

A sense of calm came over me. More and more often I found myself thinking, "This is where I belong. This is what I came into this world to do.

— Jane Goodall

As I'm traveling around, I meet many small children. And when I look at a small and think how we've harmed this beautiful planet since I was that age, I feel a kind of desperation, anger, shame. I don't know what I feel; I just don't know what the emotion is.

— Jane Goodall

At that moment there was no need of any scientific knowledge to understand his communication of reassurance. The soft pressure of his fingers spoke to me not through my intellect but through a more primitive emotional channel: the barrier of untold centuries which has grown up during the separate evolution of man and chimpanzee was, for those few seconds, broken down. It was a reward far beyond my greatest hopes.

— 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

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

— 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

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

I am not deeply involved in Australian politics, but I know there are prime ministers, governments around the world who are not acting responsibly in relation to climate change.

— Jane Goodall

I did this book 'Harvest for Hope,' and I learned so much about food. And one thing I learned is that we have the guts not of a carnivore, but of a herbivore. Herbivore guts are very long because they have to get the last bit of nutrition out of leaves and things.

— Jane Goodall