Jane Goodall was on Fareed Zakaria’s CNN program “GPS.” The video[1] and the transcript[2] are available online.
The gentle woman opens by recounting her life’s dream since childhood. “And so I was 10 years old when I had a dream. I will grow up, go to Africa, live with wild animals and write books about them. And everybody laughed at me.”

Dr. Jane Goodall perseveres like nobody’s business. She sets the pace. She sets the tone. Many are we who seek a dose—in some amount—of what she offers.

In the 74-years since she was a starry-eyed girl of 10, she has followed that dream. She has expanded it. Now in her 80s, she gives children hope to save our Earth. Here are a few memorable quotes from Dr. Goodall’s visit with Mr. Zakaria:

“But my mother—my amazing mother—said, ‘If you really want something, you're going to have to work extremely hard, take advantage of all opportunity, but don't give up.’ And I've taken that message to young people, particularly in deprived communities. And I wish Mom was alive to know how many people have come up to me and said, ‘Jane, thank you. You've taught me that, because you did it, I can do it, too.’”

“When you study animals, you simply must have patience. And I was, I guess, born with patience. I was born loving animals.”

“So I sat down near him [David Graybeard, her chimpanzee friend] and there was a bright red oil palm nut, which chimps love, so I held it out to him on my palm. And he turned his face away. So I put my hand closer. And he turned. He looked directly in my eyes. He reached out. He took the nut and dropped it—must have been something wrong, I don't know—but then he very gently squeezed my fingers. And that's how chimpanzees reassure each other. So in that moment we communicated with each other perfectly in a gestural communication system that must have predated human words. And I think that was the moment when I thought, ‘This is what I have to do; I just have to carry on.’"

And so she has. And so she is. Shall we? Shall we join our past and future by reaching out to reassure each other? We care, we say, with a gentle squeeze. We can.


Image: Jane Goodall by Erik (HASH) Hersman, licensed under the Creative Commons[3]

[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/sports/jane-goodalls-gps-interview-in-full/vi-BBSNBD3 (1/27/19)
[2] http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1901/27/fzgps.01.html (full show, may be in “rush” format)
[3] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jane_Goodall_at_TEDGlobal_2007-cropped.jpg