Today is May 8.
Or, as it is otherwise known, David Attenborough’s birthday.
Each and every time we, the public, see a photo of David Attenborough on our timelines, we instantly presume that he has tragically passed away.
It’s a scary moment, one littered with panic and concern, but once it passes we are assured that the broadcasting legend is still with us, and has simply announced a new documentary or, indeed, turned another year older.
This is one of those days, as the naturalist icon celebrates his 94th birthday. And we are, in true Attenborough enthusiast style, going to do the same by compiling a comprehensive list of our favourite Attenborough quotes throughout the years.
This is them.
1. “I wish the world was twice as big – and half of it was still unexplored.”
2. “It’s extraordinary how self-obsessed human beings are. There is so much more out there than what connects to us.”
3. “In moments of great grief, that’s where you look and immerse yourself. You realise you are not immortal, you are not a god, you are part of the natural world and you come to accept that.”
4. If we disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off.”
5. “I can’t pretend that I got involved with filming the natural world fifty years ago because I had some great banner to carry about conservation – not at all, I always had a huge pleasure in just watching the natural world and seeing what happens.”
6. “Are we happy that our grandchildren may never seen an elephant except in a picture book?”
7. “There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive.”
8. “I’ve been bitten by a python. It wasn’t a very big one…”
9. “A hundred years ago, there were one-and-a-half billion people on Earth. Now, over six billion crowd our fragile planet. But even so, there are still places barely touched by humanity.”
10. “I don’t run a car, have never run a car. I could say that this is because I have this extremely tender environmentalist conscience, but the fact is I hate driving.”
Happy birthday, Sir Dave. You’re doing the lord’s work.
