“All we can hope for is that the thing is going to slowly and imperceptibly shift. All I can say is that 50 years ago there were no such thing as environmental policies.”
Environmental
“I think a major element of jetlag is psychological. Nobody ever tells me what time it is at home.”
HomeAll Quotes by David Attenborough
“Television of course actually started in Britain in 1936, and it was a monopoly, and there was only one broadcaster and it operated on a license which is not the same as a government grant.”
Government“Nature isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind to you.”
Nature“Natural history is not about producing fables.”
History“The process of making natural history films is to try to prevent the animal knowing you are there, so you get glimpses of a non-human world, and that is a transporting thing.”
History“Before the BBC, I joined the Navy in order to travel.”
Travel“People talk about doom-laden scenarios happening in the future: they are happening in Africa now. You can see it perfectly clearly. Periodic famines are due to too many people living on land that can't sustain them.”
Future“I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature.”
Nature“In the old days... it was a basic, cardinal fact that producers didn't have opinions. When I was producing natural history programmes, I didn't use them as vehicles for my own opinion. They were factual programmes.”
History“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement the greatest source of visual beauty the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”
Beauty“There is no question that climate change is happening the only arguable point is what part humans are playing in it.”
Change“The whole of science, and one is tempted to think the whole of the life of any thinking man, is trying to come to terms with the relationship between yourself and the natural world. Why are you here, and how do you fit in, and what's it all about.”
Relationship“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.”
Car“You can only get really unpopular decisions through if the electorate is convinced of the value of the environment. That's what natural history programmes should be for.”
History“It's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so. It's not just climate change it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.”
Change“If I were beginning my career today, I don't think I would take the same direction. Television is at a crossroads at the moment. And although I am not up to date technologically, I suspect that somewhere out there people are conveying things about natural history by means other than television, and I think if I were beginning today, I'd be there.”
History“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.”
Death“People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure.”
Amazing“I can mention many moments that were unforgettable and revelatory. But the most single revelatory three minutes was the first time I put on scuba gear and dived on a coral reef. It's just the unbelievable fact that you can move in three dimensions.”
Time“I think a major element of jetlag is psychological. Nobody ever tells me what time it is at home.”
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