I still think we are smart enough to not destroy planet Earth, our only home.

I thought my life was mapped out. Research, living in the forest, teaching and writing. But in '86 I went to a conference and realised the chimpanzees were disappearing. I had worldwide recognition and a gift of communication. I had to use them.

We have so far to go to realize our human potential for compassion, altruism, and love.

Empathy is really important.. Only when our clever brain and our human heart work together in harmony can we achieve our full potential.

Lasting change is a series of compromises.

I've always felt you don't have to be completely detached, emotionally uninvolved to make precise observations. There's nothing wrong with feeling great empathy for your subjects.

We have to create more and more vegetarians, and help people to understand that it is not only the suffering of the animals (which is what made me vegetarian) but also the incredible harm to the environment, the tremendous amount of greenhouse gas created by the whole vast machinery of intensive animal farming.