Quotes By David Attenborough

I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored.

Before the BBC, I joined the Navy in order to travel.

I don't approve of sunbathing, and it's bad for you.

Nature isn't positive in that way. It doesn't aim itself at you. It's not being unkind to you.

If my grandchildren were to look at me and say, 'You were aware species were disappearing and you did nothing, you said nothing', that I think is culpable. I don't know how much more they expect me to be doing, I'd better ask them.

An understanding of the natural world and what's in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment.

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.

The climate, the economic situation, rising birth rates; none of these things give me a lot of hope or reason to be optimistic.

The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives, because there's a mutual dependency between it and millions of other species of both animals and plants.

People must feel that the natural world is important and valuable and beautiful and wonderful and an amazement and a pleasure.

It is vital that there is a narrator figure whom people believe. That's why I never do commercials. If I started saying that margarine was the same as motherhood, people would think I was a liar.

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.

I would be absolutely astounded if population growth and industrialisation and all the stuff we are pumping into the atmosphere hadn't changed the climatic balance. Of course it has. There is no valid argument for denial.

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.

There is no question that climate change is happening; the only arguable point is what part humans are playing in it.

Being in touch with the natural world is crucial.

The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?

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 television or personality shows. I hope the more didactic approach won't be lost.

I suffer much less than many of my colleagues. I am perfectly able to go to Australia and film within three hours of arrival.

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 a waste.

If I can bicycle, I bicycle.

It's a moral question about whether we have the right to exterminate species.

I'm not in politics.

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.

Getting to places like Bangkok or Singapore was a hell of a sweat. But when you got there it was the back of beyond. It was just a series of small tin sheds.

It was regarded as a responsibility of the BBC to provide programs which have a broad spectrum of interest, and if there was a hole in that spectrum, then the BBC would fill it.

I've been to Nepal, but I'd like to go to Tibet. It must be a wonderful place to go. I don't think there's anything there, but it would be a nice place to visit.

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?

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.

If you watch animals objectively for any length of time, you're driven to the conclusion that their main aim in life is to pass on their genes to the next generation.