I had this great urge... I had it the day I was born. Some may call it destiny. My parents and friends called it dismaying.

The extraordinary gentleness of the adult male with his young dispels all the King Kong mythology.

[About gorillas] You take these fine, regal animals. How many (human) fathers have the same sense of paternity? How many human mothers are more caring? The family structure is unbelievably strong.

When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.

The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow.

[My] excursions provided a unique opportunity for observing [the gorillas' behavior] in their natural habitat... Then, all too soon, the infants were demanded for their trip to the zoo. ... [H]appily the babies did not know they would never see their mountain home again

I shall never forget my first encounter with gorillas. Sound preceded sight. Odor preceded sound in the form of an overwhelming, musky-barnyard, humanlike scent. The air was suddenly rent by a high-pitched series of screams followed by the rhythmic rondo of sharp pok-pok chestbeats from a great silverbacked male obscured behind what seemed an impenetrable wall of vegetation.