Gerald Durrell citáty

strana 2

„Demokracie má své výhody, ale občas lze dosáhnout víc s trochou laskavé diktatury.“

„Musí nějaký tvor přinášet lidstvu konkrétní užitek, aby měl právo na život? Otázkou k čemu je dobré, žádáte po zvířeti, aby zdůvodnilo svou existenci, aniž jste se sami pokusili zdůvodnit svou vlastní.“

„Žil bych nerad ve světě bez ptáků, lesů a nejrozličnějších zvířat.
Byl by to strašný svět.
Je na nás, aby takový neskončil.
Dělám proto vše, co je v mých silách, a prosím vás,
abyste pomohli i vy.“

„Lidí se ke zvířatům chovají jako slepci. Jako bychom sami zapomněli, kam na tomhle světě patříme.“

„Všechny ženy, které jsem kdy poznal, si minulost pamatovaly až moc dobře. Obvykle až do příšerných podrobností.“

„Co mě zajímá, je pravda. Ne, to je snobské. Platnost. Tu hledám.“

„Můj úspěch se podobá pokusu odhrabat [(en) Mount Everest] pomocí čajové lžičky.“

“"Air! Air!" croaked Kralefsky, "Give me air!"
"Interesting," said Colonel Ribbindane. "Saw a pygmy like that once in the Congo… been trapped in an elephant’s stomach. The elephant is the largest African quadruped.."
"Do get him out," said Mother agitatedly. "Get some brandy."
"Fan him! Blow on him!" shrilled Margo, and burst into tears. "He’s dying, he’s dying, and he never finished his trick."”

“His pen squeaking like a demented wren as he wrote copious notes.”

“You are not necessarily depriving him of his liberty, for territory is a form of natural cage and the word "liberty" does not have the same connotation for an animal as it does for a chest-beating liberal homo sapiens, who can afford the luxury of abstract ideas. What you are, in fact, doing is much more important, you are taking away his territory, so you must take great care to provide him with an adequate substitute, or you will get a bored, sick or dead animal on your hands.
The thing that turns a cage into a territory may be something quite slight, but it need not be size. It might be the shape of the cage, the number of branches or the lack of them, the absence or presence of a pond, a patch of sand, a chunk of log, which could make all the difference. Such a detail, trivial to the uninformed visitor, can help the animal consider this area his territory, rather than simply a place where he ekes out his existence. As I say it is not necessarily size which is of prime importance. This is where people who criticise zoos go wrong, for they generally have little idea what circumscribed lives most animals lead.”

“Right in the Heart of the African Jungle a small white man lives. Now there is one extraordinary fact about him that he is the frind of all animals.”

“The purpose of keeping any collection of wild animals in confinement should be threefold; first, to conduct as complete as possible a biological study of every species, especially those aspects which are too difficult or too costly to study in the wild and which may help in the preservation of that species in its natural habitat; second, to aid severely endangered species by setting up, under ideal conditions, protected breeding groups and, eventually, a reintroduction programme, so helping to ensure their future survival; thirdly, by the display and explanation of this work to the public, to persuade people of the vital necessity and urgency for the overall conservation of nature.”

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, I present the famous escape artists, Krafty Kralefsky and his partner, Slithery Stephanides.”

“A sparrow can be as interesting as a bird of paradise, the behaviour of a mouse as interesting as that of a tiger. Our planet is beautifully intricate, brimming over with enigmas to be solved and riddles to be unravelled.”