Louis Leakey Quotes (32 Quotes)

We explored about 180 miles of exposures, ranging from a depth of about 300 feet to 50 feet, before we undertook any major digging.

The Dalmatian breed of dog has many primitive characteristics.

The author knows just what he wants to illustrate and how he would like it to be done.

I kept an open mind on the question of whether a hominid had been present in Europe in the early Pleistocene.

When my father arrived in Kenya, he had found the Kikuyu way of life similar to that of the British at the time the Romans invaded England 2,000 years ago.

Sometime during the many millions of years that have elapsed since mammalian faunas came into existence, some sort of island crossed from West Africa to South America.

Most Kikuyu marriages were arranged on the basis of what is described by anthropologists as the bride price.

Far too often animals are put to sleep when they could be saved through proper care and nursing.

Colonial governors and senior civil servants are not easy people to argue with, and I was not popular because of my criticism of the colonial service in Kenya.

I held a research fellowship at St. John's College, Cambridge, and had been allowed to retain my rooms there while I was away in Africa.

There is tragic evidence to show that the paintings at the French prehistoric art sites are deteriorating.

The trip I made to Angola to study the prehistoric contents of the gravel beds as a means of deciding the age of the deposits and their economic potential was the first time prehistory had ever been used for such a purpose.

Raising funds for my fourth expedition proved to be very difficult.

I withdrew my support for the validity of the evidence for early Pleistocene Stone Age tools in Europe on the grounds of not proven.

We decided to leave a part of each and every excavated area exactly as we had found it, protecting the specimens from rain and excessive sun.

Our water hole at the camp was little more than a liquid, muddy swamp, in which a rhino wallowed daily and added urine to the puddle.

Although we followed that hyena for the best part of half an hour, we never caught up with it.

At Olduvai, for 20 years, Mary and I had investigated and made a general survey of the overall geology.

I put a bullet into the back of the crocodile's neck just behind the head, thus killing it. If a crocodile is hit in any other part of its anatomy it disappears into the water and is irrecoverable.

The majority of people in Angola were not provided with any kind of schooling and were completely illiterate, very badly paid, and treated almost as slaves.

Tracing the paintings was often complicated because of high winds and by the difficulties of getting within reach of the paintings.

I have examined the stomach contents of seven aardvarks.

Sometimes string figures were used to illustrate stories, as in the case of an Eskimo example that depicts a man catching a salmon. Sometimes they had magic or religious significance.

I felt that in time simple stone tools would be found in early Pleistocene in England.

To save an animal's life in order that it may suffer indefinitely is something I would never condone.

During our first night in the new camp a number of lions came round to investigate. The lions contented themselves by roaring at us.

South Africa had a long record of studies in prehistory, going back to the end of the last century.

We set up the promised clinic for the sick and wounded Masai.

The crocodile was laid stomach upwards to be cut open. The stomach contents included bracelets, beads, necklaces, and indications of human meals.

I saw what looked like another fallen tree in front of me and put my foot on it to cross over. At that moment it reared up in front of me-the biggest python I had ever seen!

Eloquent testimony to the recovery powers of wild animals frequently becomes apparent from the study of skeletons housed in museums.

The Foxhall jaw has now been missing for many years.