I like animals. I like natural history. The travel bit is not the important bit. The travel bit is what you have to do in order to go and look at animals.
Author
David Attenborough
38 quotations
About David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, natural historian, and writer. His presenting career began as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, and has spanned seven decades; it includes the nine documentary series forming The Life Collection, Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. He is the only person to have won BAFTA Awards in black-and-white, colour, high-definition, 3D and 4K resolution. Over his life, he has collected dozens of…
Read on Wikipedia → Find books by David AttenboroughBefore the BBC, I joined the Navy in order to travel.
Dealing with global warming doesn't mean we have all got to suddenly stop breathing. Dealing with global warming means that we have to stop waste, and if you travel for no reason whatsoever, that is …
I think a major element of jetlag is psychological. Nobody ever tells me what time it is at home.
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 unbelie…
Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics.
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,…
Steve Irwin did wonderful conservation work but I was uncomfortable about some of his stunts. Even if animals aren't aware that you are not treating them with respect, the viewers are.
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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,…
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 isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind to you.
I'm not in politics.
Many individuals are doing what they can. But real success can only come if there is a change in our societies and in our economics and in our politics.
Nature isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind to you.
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.
The climate, the economic situation, rising birth rates none of these things give me a lot of hope or reason to be optimistic.
I had a huge advantage when I started 50 years ago - my job was secure. I didn't have to promote myself. These days there's far more pressure to make a mark, so the temptation is to make adventure te…
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.
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 natura…
I think a major element of jetlag is psychological. Nobody ever tells me what time it is at home.
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 somew…
Natural history is not about producing fables.
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.
Cameramen are among the most extraordinarily able and competent people I know. They have to have an insight into natural history that gives them a sixth sense of what the creature is going to do, so …
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.