Donald Johanson

Normally, we are happy to find a fragment of jaw, a few isolated teeth, a bit of an arm, a bit of a skull. But to find associated body parts is extremely rare. ”

When the first fossils began to be found in eastern Africa, in the late 1950s, I thought, what a wonderful marriage this was, biology and anthropology. I was around 16 years old when I made this particular choice of academic pursuit. ”

As an undergraduate, I had an opportunity to go on a number of archeological digs. So I had experience excavating, digging up remains of ancient Indian villages in the Midwest and in the Southwest. ”

One has to take initiative in life to achieve what he or she wants. ”

Most achievers I know are people who have made a strong and deep dedication to pursuing a particular goal. That dedication took a tremendous amount of effort. ”

Commitment, belief and positive attitude are all important if you're going to be a success, whether you're in sports, in business or, as in my case, anthropology. ”

All mammals undergo a certain degree of diversification. Darwin knew that. When he drew a family tree, it had many branches on it. ”

I was aware of it, but I grew up in a very a-religious family. My mother never went to church, she never had any religious training or background. It was never a part of our social interaction. ”

It's very hard for all of us, when we've committed ourselves to a particular interpretation, to change our minds. ”

You don't just magically flip some evolutionary switch somewhere and transmute a quadruped into an upright-walking bipedal human. ”