"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it" - Robert Heinlein
Jane Goodall's Chimp Greeting from The Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.
As one of reportedly fewer than 10 people ever to be invited to study for a PhD at Cambridge without a prior undergraduate degree, Jane Goodall was promptly told by "experts" there that all her field work on chimpanzee behaviour was wrong, and that she should not anthropomorphise them with names, still less assign them thoughts, personalities and emotions.
Today, we know that she was right and they were wrong.
Speaking at the VUB University in Brussels on 22/11/10, Jane conveyed passionately - without notes, without slides - her compassionate activism on behalf of not just her beloved chimpanzees, but on behalf of us all, both those of us alive now and the generations yet to come.
Jane exhorted us all to make pro-sustainability choices every day, be it through mindful eating, supporting her Roots & Shoots networks for young people around the world, or volunteering through local branches of her Jane Goodall Institutes.
Jane received a sustained standing ovation and then generously stayed on another hour, signing books, chatting...and continuing to inspire young and old alike.