David Frederick Attenborough, David Attenborough
Born 8 May 1926
Birthplace: London, England
English broadcaster, author & naturalist
“In human nature there is good and evil, and often it is within man’s capacity to destroy the very things we value most….We are at risk of destroying the very bedrock on which our existence is built.”
~David Attenborough, English broadcast journalist & naturalist
“Patron’s Message from Sir David Attenborough, CH FRS” (2004) World Land Trust Annual Review and Accounts 2004, Suffolk: World Land Trust, p. 2; online via World Land Trust, www.worldlandtrust.org
Extended excerpt [Introduction to the World Land Trust (WLT) 2004 annual report. Attenborough is a long-term patron & advocate of the non-profit WLT.]:
“In human nature there is good and evil, and often it is within man’s capacity to destroy the very things we value most. For millions of years we have been exploiting our planet and its natural resources but it is only with modern technology that we have tipped the scales to an alarming degree. We are at risk of destroying the very bedrock on which our existence was built.”
Old source link [Summer 2018]: World Land Trust Annual Review and Accounts 2004 (2004) World Land Trust: http://www.worldlandtrust.org/documents/2004annual-report.pdf – Source update: As of October 2018, World Land Trust has removed older annual reports from their website. Recent reports can be found on the following link, as well as a note that “Older report summaries available upon request.”: https://www.worldlandtrust.org/accounts/
“The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility.”
~David Attenborough, English broadcast journalist & naturalist
Life on Earth (1979) Text narrative corresponding to Attenborough’s Life on Earth BBC televised series, Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co., 1st American edition, p. 308; online via Open Library [free subscription service] openlibrary.org
Extended excerpt [From the conclusion of Attenborough’s book Life on Earth. Chapter 13, ‘The Compulsive Communicators’]:
“The fact is that no species has ever had such wholesale control over everything on earth, living or dead, as we now have. That lays upon us, whether we like it or not, an awesome responsibility. In our hands now lies not only our own future, but that of all other living creatures with whom we share the earth.” (p. 308)
Source link: Life on Earth (1979 text | Little, Brown & Co.) online via Open Library [free subscription service]: https://archive.org/stream/lifeonearthnatur00atte#page/n311/mode/2up/search/wholesale+control
“We can now manipulate images to such an extraordinary degree that there is no lie you can’t tell.”
~David Attenborough, English broadcast journalist & naturalist
“Ruffled feathers” (18 October 1998) Interview by Harriet Lane, ‘Life’ [newspaper Sunday magazine], London: The Observer, p. 102; online via Newspapers.com [subscription service] www.newspapers.com
Extended excerpt [Attenborough, remarking on television special effects, in an interview for The Observer newspaper.]:
“You can’t help wondering whether, when shown cheek-by-jowl with Hollywood’s latest wizardry, the footage of ‘real’ birds loses some of its impact. But Attenborough thinks this is a load of rubbish. “We can now manipulate images to such an extraordinary degree that there is no lie you can’t tell,” he says briskly. “And I suppose that is one of the reasons why a presenter figure is worth having: because he is some kind of assurance to the viewer that what they’re seeing is not a lie. It’s one of the reasons why I would never, under any circumstances, do a commercial. “ (p. 102 of full newspaper edition)
Source link: “Ruffled feathers” (18 October 1998) The Observer; via Newspapers.com [subscription service]: https://www.newspapers.com/image/258253025
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