I'm a humanist. I'm neither one side nor the other. David Attenborough More Quotes by David Attenborough More Quotes From David Attenborough Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is either a madman or an economist. David Attenborough madgrowththinking Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird? David Attenborough eyeearsbird I'm no longer sceptical. I no longer have any doubt at all. I think climate change is the major challenge facing the world. David Attenborough challengesdoubtthinking There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive. David Attenborough fourdifferentanimal [W]hen we look at the graphs of rising ocean temperatures, rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and so on, we know that they are climbing far more steeply than can be accounted for by the natural oscillation of the weather ... What people (must) do is to change their behavior and their attitudes ... If we do care about our grandchildren then we have to do something, and we have to demand that our governments do something. David Attenborough grandchildrenoceanattitude Life is not all high emotion. Some of the most interesting things are when its not highly emotional: little details of relationships and body language. David Attenborough detailsemotionalinteresting Nothing in the natural world makes sense - except when seen in the light of evolution David Attenborough evolutionlightworld The correct scientific response to something that is not understood must always be to look harder for the explanation, not give up and assume a supernatural cause. David Attenborough giving-upcauseslooks It's extraordinary how self-obsessed human beings are. The things that people always go on about is, 'tell us about us', 'tell us about the first human being'. We are so self-obsessed with our own history. There is so much more out there than what connects to us. David Attenborough selfgoes-onpeople Being in touch with the natural world is crucial. David Attenborough crucialnaturalworld All our environmental problems become easier to solve with fewer people and harder - and ultimately impossible to solve - with ever more people. David Attenborough environmentalpopulationpeople I don't run a car, have never run a car. I could say that this is because I have this extremely tender environmentalist conscience, but the fact is I hate driving. David Attenborough carhaterunning We really need to kick the carbon habit and stop making our energy from burning things. Climate change is also really important. You can wreck one rainforest then move, drain one area of resources and move onto another, but climate change is global. David Attenborough importantenergymoving You can cry about death and very properly so, your own as well as anybody else's. But it's inevitable, so you'd better grapple with it and cope and be aware that not only is it inevitable, but it has always been inevitable, if you see what I mean. David Attenborough inevitablecrymean Using his burgeoning intelligence, this most successful of all mammals has exploited the environment to produce food for an ever increasing population. Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it's time we controlled the population to allow the survival of the environment. David Attenborough mammalssurvivalsuccessful People are not going to care about animal conservation unless they think that animals are worthwhile. David Attenborough animalpeoplethinking You've got to be fairly solemn [about the environment]. I mean the mere notion that there are three times as many people on Earth as there were when I started making television. How can the Earth accommodate them? When people, including politicians, set their faces against looking at the consequences-it's just unbelievable that anyone could ignore it. David Attenborough sciencemeanpeople Fundamentally not to waste energy. If we were all to reduce our demands for energy, it would make an enormous amount of difference. David Attenborough demanddifferencesenergy I suppose happiness is something one enjoys, but I suspect that happiness is not a state but rather a transition. David Attenborough transitionenjoystates Climate change will affect the whole of humanity, while terrorist attacks will only affect a small section of humanity. Of course, you wouldn't say that if you were related to someone who had been beheaded or blown up or murdered. But humanity is facing a very big, slow, long, drawn-out threat, and that is to do with the way the weather is changing and the size of the population. David Attenborough humanityweatherlong
