Quotes by Donald Johanson

About Donald Johanson:

Donald Carl Johanson is an American paleoanthropologist. He is known for discovering the fossil of a female hominin australopithecine known as "Lucy" in the Afar Triangle region of Hadar, Ethiopia.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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.

Donald Johanson

What's changed is we now have good anatomical, geological, archaeological evidence that Neanderthals are not our ancestors. When I wrote 'Lucy,' I considered Neanderthals ancestors of modern humans. We have gone back twice the age of Lucy, six millio...

Donald Johanson

Evolution explains our biological evolution, but human beings are very unique creatures. As the Dobzhansky said, all animals are unique; humans are the uniquest. And that uniqueness of being human, language, art, culture, our dependency on culture fo...

Donald Johanson

Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.

Donald Johanson

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.

Donald Johanson

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.

Donald Johanson

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

Donald Johanson

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

Donald Johanson

I think that many of my ideas are correct, but I'll bet you, before my death other discoveries will be made that will prompt me to alter various ideas I have about human evolution.

Donald Johanson

I find a tremendous receptivity among the public for the subject matter of, 'Where did we come from and how did we get here?' People are thirsty and hungry for information on our origins. I feel a responsibility as a major figure in the area... to co...

Donald Johanson

This was the most important discovery I had ever made in my life. It was a discovery which has irrevocably changed my whole life's direction. It immediately elevated me to the status of one of the world's leading anthropologists.

Donald Johanson

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

Donald Johanson

And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where we didn't even know the right questions to ask.

Donald Johanson

My real father died when I was two years old, so I never knew him. He was a barber in Chicago.

Donald Johanson

But what really excited me was the idea that humans had a tremendous pre-history that went back millions of years. I wanted to go to Africa to find some of these creatures.

Donald Johanson

I was very intellectually oriented, very early on.

Donald Johanson

One has to devote oneself to a particular pursuit. To be successful at anything, you have to make a total commitment to it.

Donald Johanson

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.

Donald Johanson

In our case, finding a Lucy is unique. No one will ever find another Lucy. You can't order one from a biological supply house. It's a unique discovery, a unique specimen.

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.

Donald Johanson

Author Bio

  • NameDonald Johanson
  • DescriptionAmerican anthropologist
  • BornJune 28, 1943
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionAnthropologist; Archaeologist; Prehistorian
  • AwardsNational Book Award