Quotations

"I'm fascinated how often and with what whole-heartedness people will risk their lives to perform acts of courage, sacrifice, and compassion for total strangers."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"Just as our ancient ancestors drew animals on cave walls and carved animals from wood and bone, we decorate our homes with animal prints and motifs, give our children stuffed animals to clutch, cartoon animals to watch, animal stories to read."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"We tend to think of heroes only in terms of violent combat, whether it's against enemies or a natural disaster. But human beings also perform radical acts of compassion; we just don't talk about them, or we don't talk about them as much."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"What a lonely species we are, searching for signals of life from other galaxies, adopting companion animals, visiting parks and zoos to commune with other beasts."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"Love is the best school, but the tuition is high and the homework can be painful."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"Touch seems to be as essential as sunlight."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between."

— Diane Ackerman, American poet, born 1948

"The negative is the equivalent of the composer's score, and the print the performance."

— Ansel Adams, American photographer, born 1902

"There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept."

— Ansel Adams, American photographer, born 1902

"I believe in growing things, and in the things which have grown and died magnificently. I believe in people and in the simple aspects of human life, and in the relation of man to nature. I believe man must be free, both in spirit and society, that he must build strength into himself, affirming the "enormous beauty of the world" and acquiring the confidence to see and to express his vision. And I believe in photography as one means of expressing this affirmation, and of achieving an ultimate happiness and faith."

— Ansel Adams, American photographer, born 1902

"A photograph is usually looked at—seldom looked into."

— Ansel Adams, American photographer, born 1902

"It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem.

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligence than dolphins because he had achieved so much--the wheel, New York, wars, and so on--whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man--for precisely the same reason."

— Douglas Adams, English writer, born 1952

"The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera."

— Eddie Adams, American photographer, born 1933

"I'm not a great believer in the power of the moving image. A still image has greater lasting power. A still photographer has to show the whole fucking movie in one picture. On the screen, it's over and back in the can in seconds. A still picture is going to be there forever."

— Eddie Adams, American photographer, born 1933