Leakey Quotes & Sayings

Echoing the criticism made of his father's habilis skulls, he added that Lucy's skull was so incomplete that most of it was 'imagination made of plaster of Paris', thus making it impossible to draw any firm conclusion about what species she belonged to. — Richard Leakey

An evolutionary perspective of our place in the history of the earth reminds us that Homo sapiens sapiens has occupied the planet for the tiniest fraction of that planet's four and a half thousand million years of existence. In many ways we are a biological accident, the product of countless propitious circumstances. As we peer back through the fossil record, through layer upon layer of long-extinct species, many of which thrived far longer than the human species is ever likely to do, we are reminded of our mortality as a species. There is no law that declares the human animal to be different, as seen in this broad biological perspective, from any other animal. There is no law that declares the human species to be immortal. — Richard E. Leakey

The Foxhall jaw has now been missing for many years. — Louis Leakey

I never felt interpretation was my job. — Mary Leakey

One should not forget that there are very few surviving items from this period, often just single, small bones, a tooth, a sliver of the skull. Categorizing these pieces can be very difficult. — Richard Leakey

It seems inconceivable that a species of human could possess fully modern language and not be fully modern in all other ways, too. For this reason, the evolution of language is widely judged to be the culminating event in the emergence of humanity as we know it today. — Richard Leakey

Every species becomes extinct; at some point, we will go extinct. The question is, as Homo sapiens, are we going to be able to adapt to the change that we're actually part of? We're causing such dramatic changes to the planet, so yes, you do stop and think, 'I wonder where we're headed.' — Louise Leakey

I go once a year to the Serengeti to see the wildebeest migrations because that means a lot to me, but I avoid Olduvai if I can because it is a ruin. It is most depressing. — Mary Leakey

What is it that really makes us, us? It's our collective intelligence. It's our ability to write things down, our language and our consciousness. — Louise Leakey

At Olduvai, for 20 years, Mary and I had investigated and made a general survey of the overall geology. — Louis Leakey

When my father arrived in Kenya, he had found the Kikuyu way of life similar to that of the British at the time the Romans invaded England 2,000 years ago. — Louis Leakey

Most Kikuyu marriages were arranged on the basis of what is described by anthropologists as the bride price. — Louis Leakey

I kept an open mind on the question of whether a hominid had been present in Europe in the early Pleistocene. — Louis Leakey

Humans become human through intense learning not just of survival skills but of customs and social mores, kinship and social laws-that is, culture. — Richard Leakey

Whether or not all this came to pass in an East African ditch, I wouldn't like to say. Perhaps it happened in North Africa or further west, but Africa was definitely the place. — Richard Leakey

Sometimes string figures were used to illustrate stories, as in the case of an Eskimo example that depicts a man catching a salmon. Sometimes they had magic or religious significance. — Louis Leakey

Culture represents a novelty in the world of nature, and it could have added an effective, unifying edge to the forces of natural selection. — Richard Leakey

To save an animal's life in order that it may suffer indefinitely is something I would never condone. — Louis Leakey

When we find a fossil, we mark it. Today, we've got great technology: we have GPS. We mark it with a GPS fix, and we also take a digital photograph of the specimen, so we could essentially put it back on the surface, exactly where we found it. — Louise Leakey

Paleoanthropology is not a science that ends with the discovery of a bone. One has to have the original to work with. It is a life-long task. — Richard Leakey

The language of art is powerful to those who understand it, and puzzling to those who do not. What we do know is that here was the modern human mind at work, spinning symbolism and abstraction in a way that only Homo sapiens is capable of doing. — Richard Leakey

It's important to remember that we evolved. Now, I know that's a dirty word for some people, but we evolved from common ancestors with the gorillas, the chimpanzee and also the bonobos. We have a common past, and we have a common future. — Louise Leakey

I had never passed a single school exam, and clearly never would. — Mary Leakey

I quite liked having a baby - I think I won't put it more strongly than that. But I had no intention of allowing motherhood to disrupt my work as an archeologist. — Mary Leakey

Eloquent testimony to the recovery powers of wild animals frequently becomes apparent from the study of skeletons housed in museums. — Louis Leakey

Colonial governors and senior civil servants are not easy people to argue with, and I was not popular because of my criticism of the colonial service in Kenya. — Louis Leakey

I dug things up. I was curious. I liked to draw what I found. — Mary Leakey

I felt that in time simple stone tools would be found in early Pleistocene in England. — Louis Leakey

There were details like clothing, hair styles and the fragile objects that hardly ever survive for the archaeologist - musical instruments, bows and arrows, and body ornaments depicted as they were worn. ... No amounts of stone and bone could yield the kinds of information that the paintings gave so freely. — Mary Leakey

She stops, pauses, turns to the left to glance at some possible threat or irregularity, and then continues to the north. This motion, so intensely human, transcends time. — Mary Leakey

As a social anthropologist, I naturally accept and even stress the fact that there are major differences, both mental and psychological, which separate the different races of mankind. Indeed, I would be inclined to suggest that however great may be the physical differences between such races as the European and the Negro, the mental and psychological differences are greater still. — Louis Leakey

Spoken language clearly differentiates Homo sapiens from all other creatures. None but humankind produces a complex spoken language, a medium for communication and a medium for introspective reflection. — Richard Leakey

What the fossil record does do is to force us to contemplate our place on the planet. We are but one species of several hominids that inhabited Planet Earth, and like our distant cousins who went extinct fairly recently, our time on Planet Earth is also finite. — Louise Leakey

I put a bullet into the back of the crocodile's neck just behind the head, thus killing it. If a crocodile is hit in any other part of its anatomy it disappears into the water and is irrecoverable. — Louis Leakey

A number of scientists with greatly different backgrounds can come up with completely different assessments. The discussions or controversies are endless. Once a year, we try to bring the most important discoverers together to exchange their experiences and knowledge. — Richard Leakey

It's the next annihilation of vast numbers of species. It is happening now, and we, the human race, are its cause — Richard Leakey

If you want to become a fossil, you actually need to die somewhere where your bones will be rapidly buried. You then hope that the earth moves in such a way as to bring the bones back up to the surface. And then you hope that one of us lot will walk around and find small pieces of you. — Louise Leakey

I saw what looked like another fallen tree in front of me and put my foot on it to cross over. At that moment it reared up in front of me-the biggest python I had ever seen! — Louis Leakey

Earlier, 100,000 elephants lived in Kenya and we didn't have any noteworthy problem with it. The problem that we have is not that there are now more elephants. — Richard Leakey

To investigate the history of man's development, the most important finds are, of course, hominid fossils. — Richard Leakey

The pioneering anthropologist Louis Leakey once stated, Without an understanding of who we are, we cannot truly advance. — Gregg Braden

For three million years we were hunter-gatherers, and it was through the evolutionary pressures of that way of life that a brain so adaptable and so creative eventually emerged. Today we stand with the brains of hunter-gatherers in our heads, looking out on a modern world made comfortable for some by the fruits of human inventiveness, and made miserable for others by the scandal of deprivation in the midst of plenty. — Richard E. Leakey

Although we followed that hyena for the best part of half an hour, we never caught up with it. — Louis Leakey

Now this really is something to put on the mantelpiece. — Mary Leakey

The greatest problem we face is the growing number of people living in poverty. The related sense of hopelessness has to be impacting on every part of environmental management. — Richard Leakey

With the discovery of Zinjanthropus at Olduvai Gorge in 1959, my grandmother Mary Leakey pioneered the research in East Africa with my grandfather Louis. Many more spectacular fossil finds have since been made, both in Africa and elsewhere, by many researchers driven to understand our past. — Louise Leakey

As every parent knows, children go through an adolescent growth spurt, during which they put on inches at an alarming rate. Humans are unique in this respect: most mammalian species, including apes, progress almost directly from infancy to adulthood. — Richard Leakey

Who are we? That is the big question. And essentially we are just an upright, walking, big brained, super intelligent ape. — Louise Leakey

The world's five thousand extant languages are products of our shared ability, but the five thousand cultures they create are separate from each other. — Richard Leakey

The elephants were being slaughtered in masses. Some were even killed in the vicinity of big tourist hotels. — Richard Leakey

There is tragic evidence to show that the paintings at the French prehistoric art sites are deteriorating. — Louis Leakey

The trip I made to Angola to study the prehistoric contents of the gravel beds as a means of deciding the age of the deposits and their economic potential was the first time prehistory had ever been used for such a purpose. — Louis Leakey

Along the borders to Ethiopia and Somalia, anarchy reigns, the police and military have retreated quite some distance. — Richard Leakey

I think when you work on fossils, and you realize that a species is there, and it's abundant for quite a long period of time, and then at some point it's no longer there - and so, when you look at that bigger picture, yes, you realize that either you change and adapt, or, as a species, you go extinct. — Louise Leakey

I can't think of any other region in the world which is such a vast source of fossils. — Richard Leakey

Eighty-five percent of recorded species live in the terrestrial realm, and the majority of these, some 850,000, are arthropods (that is, insects, spiders, and crustaceans). Most of the arthropod species are insects, and almost half of these are beetles, a fact that is said to have inspired a famous epigram from the British biologist J.B.S. Haldane. On being asked, one day, by some clerical gentlemen what his study of the natural world had revealed to him about God. Haldane is said to have replied that it indicated that He had an inordinate fondness of beetles. — Richard E. Leakey

I started as - well, I wanted to be Poet Laureate. And I wanted to be a naturalist. That's how I began. I didn't have any desire to go and be a scientist. Louis Leakey channeled me there. I'm delighted he did. I love science. I love analyzing and making sense of all these observations. So, it was the perfect rounding off of who I was into who I am. — Jane Goodall

I have this cousin down in Georgia that skinny-dipped in the Chattahoochee and two hours later gave birth to crawfish." Leakey turned to walk away. "Crawfish, Chief. I'm just saying. — Jake Burrows

Our self-awareness impresses itself on us so cogently, as individuals and as a species, that we cannot imagine ourselves out of existence, even though for hundreds of millions of years humans played no part in the flow of life on the planet. When Teilhard de Chardin wrote, "The phenomenon of Man was essentially foreordained from the beginning," he was speaking from the depth of individual experience, which we all share, as much as from religious philosophy. Our inability to imagine a world without Homo sapiens has a profound impact on our view of ourselves; it becomes seductively easy to imagine that our evolution was inevitable. And inevitability gives meaning to life, because there is a deep security in believing that the way things are is the way they were meant to be. — Richard E. Leakey

You only find what you are looking for, really, if the truth be known. — Mary Leakey

Sometime during the many millions of years that have elapsed since mammalian faunas came into existence, some sort of island crossed from West Africa to South America. — Louis Leakey

Ritual disposal of the dead speaks clearly of an awareness of death, and thus an awareness of self. — Richard Leakey

Basically, I have been compelled by curiosity. — Mary Leakey

Scientific innovations continually provide us with new means of analyzing the finds. — Richard Leakey

I ... believe the study of human history remains important and should not be banned. We should ensure that any archaeological studies are conducted with sensitivity and respect. Reburying relics, in my view, does not help anyone go anywhere. — Richard Leakey

I got too old to live in the bush. You really need to be youngish and healthy, so it seemed stupid to keep going. — Mary Leakey

In the rush of today's world, and with more than half of us now living in cities, the majority of people are less and less connected with the spectacle of nature. — Louise Leakey

I'd rather be in a tent than in a house. — Mary Leakey

Climate change: We have never faced a more critical time on our planet — Richard Leakey

We set up the promised clinic for the sick and wounded Masai. — Louis Leakey

The majority of people in Angola were not provided with any kind of schooling and were completely illiterate, very badly paid, and treated almost as slaves. — Louis Leakey

I have been raised to believe in freedom of thought and speech. If a minority wishes to accept that position it's their right. What I fear is that this minority may seem to be larger than it truly is. What is strange is that there are still people who believe the world is not a globe. — Richard Leakey

The Dalmatian breed of dog has many primitive characteristics. — Louis Leakey

We think that groups of between 30 and 40 early men would have settled in an area measuring a hundred square kilometers. — Richard Leakey

I simply would not accede to being forced into this, and would frequently be kept out of classes because of irreverent comments and mocking this religious stuff. Frankly, it stayed with me to this day. In fact, don't get me going. I'm almost as bad as Richard Dawkins on this issue. — Richard E. Leakey

My father used to say that, through culture, humans effectively domesticated themselves. — Richard Leakey

If you want to become a fossil, you need to die somewhere where your bones will be rapidly buried. You then hope that the Earth moves in such a way as to bring the bones back up to the surface. — Louise Leakey

The problem is that during the 1980s, a decade of heavy poaching, the elephants retreated to safer areas. And now people have moved into the corridors once used by the elephants. — Richard Leakey

Stone tools are fossilized human behavior. — Louis Leakey

South Africa had a long record of studies in prehistory, going back to the end of the last century. — Louis Leakey

We are concerned that, in a few years time, this place of discovery, with its wealth of human fossils, the like of which can be found nowhere else in the world, could be completely destroyed. — Richard Leakey

I have examined the stomach contents of seven aardvarks. — Louis Leakey

Louis [Leakey] was anxious to initiate a scientific study of these chimpanzees. It would be difficult, he emphasized, for nothing was known; there were no guidelines for such a field study; and the habitat was remote and rugged. Dangerous wild animals would be living there, and chimpanzees themselves were considered at least four times stronger than humans. I remember wondering what kind of scientist he would find for such a herculean task. — Jane Goodall

Elephants can live to an age of up to 70 or 80 years and they have a good memory. It could be they come across an area that is experiencing a drought. Then they continue on their path and run into people. — Richard Leakey

We are bipedal apes, and it should not be surprising to see that fact reflected in the way our ancestors lived. — Richard Leakey

We hope to find more pieces of the puzzle which will shed light on the connection between this upright, walking ape, our early ancestor, and modern man. — Richard Leakey

Raising funds for my fourth expedition proved to be very difficult. — Louis Leakey

My father so appropriately put it that we are certainly the only animal that makes conscious choices that are bad for our survival as a species. — Louise Leakey

When I met Richard Leakey, I thought, 'This is the most charismatic man I've ever met.' He has no legs. He lost them when his plane was sabotaged. But he's an interesting, sort of narcissistic guy. — Eric Roth

The whole story is about change. We are very lucky that the earth's history is recorded in fossilized remains. And we can see the changes. Unfortunately, there will always be gaps in our knowledge, but there is no doubt that we and everything living today has evolved. — Richard Leakey

Sadly, I am not able to take part in the fieldwork myself so much anymore, as both of my legs were amputated following an airplane crash twelve years ago. — Richard Leakey

I didn't want to become a professor or get tenure or teach or anything. All I wanted to do was get a degree because Louis Leakey said I needed one, which was right, and once I succeeded I could get back to the field. — Jane Goodall

In the area of species protection, we should concern ourselves with what is right as opposed to what might be easier, or popular in the short term. — Richard Leakey

Olduvai Gorge gives us one of the most remarkable stories of the past-the last chapter of the Earth's history, starting at the present day, right away back 2 million years. — Louis Leakey

I, too, am convinced that our ancestors came from Africa. — Richard Leakey

The land is not in the least bit fertile and yet the cattle herds grow larger and larger. A cow represents capital investment here. — Richard Leakey

Primates need good nutrition, to begin with. Not only fruits and plants, but insects as well. — Richard Leakey

For fossils to thrive, certain favorable circumstances are required. First of all, of course, remnants of life have to be there. These then need to be washed over with water as soon as possible, so that the bones are covered with a layer of sediment. — Richard Leakey

It is virtually impossible to control Northern Kenya, which is populated chiefly by migrant nomads. — Richard Leakey

The author knows just what he wants to illustrate and how he would like it to be done. — Louis Leakey