Quote Of The Day By Jane Goodall: 'If You Don't Think What You Do Is Going To Make Any Difference, Why...'

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Jane Goodall was a renowned primatologist and conservationist, and her work with chimpanzees helped change how we understand animals as well as ourselves. Goodall was born in 1934, in London, and she had an interest in animals, reading, and learning about the world that notably started from a young age. Goodall began working with renowned paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey in Kenya when she was in her early 20s. Leakey was particularly impressed by Goodall's observational skills. Goodall was only 26 when she started what would become groundbreaking work with chimps in Gombe National Park, in Tanzania. She was able to see the familial and societal bonds between the chimps in a way that no one else had before, and she notably discovered that they used tools too. Previously, this trait was assumed to be solely a human one. 

She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, to continue her research, and it has since grown into a conservation organization that does work all over the world. Goodall received a PhD in ethology from the University of Cambridge, despite never formally completing an undergraduate degree there. However, Goodall had dozens of honorary degrees from various universities. Her other accolades included being named a Dame in the U.K and receiving the French Legion of Honor.

Goodall passed away in 2025 at the age of 91, leaving behind an impressive legacy. During the 2025 ceremony for her Presidential Medal of Freedom, President Joe Biden said: "Jane's activism, vision, and message of hope have mobilized a global movement to protect the planet. Above all, she has taught us that when we search for humanity in the natural world around us, we discover it within ourselves," (via the Jane Goodall Institute). Hence why we've chosen her for our quote of the day.

"If you don't think what you do is going to make any difference, why bother to do it?" Jane Goodall posed this question to The Guardian in 2021 while promoting "The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times." It's a core sentiment from the book itself, which is all about being able to move forward and make things better while you're still here. It can be a hard motto to live by at times, but it's an important one nonetheless.

Jane Goodall's question to the world is about considering how and why you should act to help make things better. It helps reinforce the idea that small actions can and do add up over time, so they're worth doing, even when it doesn't feel like it (or perhaps especially then). The dedicated conservationist wanted us to actively think about how we can make the world better, even if it's just in a day to day, small way, and then take that action. 

Goodall's idea also acknowledges the flip side of the situation too. If you start to think that your actions won't actually make a difference, it's far more likely that you will become apathetic and then do nothing. It can be easy to assume that what we do doesn't actually matter that much in the grand scheme of things, so we lose motivation, and with it hope.

Apathy is an easy trap to fall into since you may not see any differences immediately, especially when you are working on the kind of major issues that Goodall supported, like climate change or animal conservation. But that doesn't mean that what you're doing isn't actually having an impact. It may just take more time and continued efforts to see results.

• "We must remember that we are part of, and not apart from, the natural world. [...] We depend on Mother Nature for clean air, for water, for food, for clothing, for everything." 
• "Surely, we do not want to live in a world without the great apes, our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom? A world where we can no longer marvel at the magnificent flight of bald eagles or hear the howl of wolves under the moon? A world not enhanced by the sight of a grizzly bear and her cubs hunting for berries in the wilderness? What would our grandchildren think if these magical images were only to be found in books?"
• "I want to make sure that you all understand that each and every one of you has a role to play. You may not know it, you may not find it, but your life matters, and you are here for a reason."
• "Hope is often misunderstood. People tend to think that it is simply passive wishful thinking: I hope something will happen but I'm not going to do anything about it. This is indeed the opposite of real hope, which requires action and engagement."
• "Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved."