p. 189

Is it not possible that the chimpanzees are responding to some feeling like awe? A feeling generated by the mystery of water; water that seems alive, always rushing past yet never going, always the same yet ever different. Was it perhaps similar feelings of awe that gave rise to the first animistic religions, the worship of the elements and the mysteries of nature over which there was no control? Only when our prehistoric ancestors developed language would it have been possible to discuss such internal feelings and create a shared religion.

— Jane Goodall

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Is it not possible that the chimpanzees are responding to some feeling like awe? A feeling generated by the mystery of water; water that seems alive, always rushing past yet never going, always the same yet ever different. Was it perhaps similar feelings of awe that gave rise to the first animistic religions, the worship of the elements and the mysteries of nature over which there was no control? Only when our prehistoric ancestors developed language would it have been possible to discuss such internal feelings and create a shared religion." in the context of "p. 189" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Jane Goodall" (Quotes, 2000s, Reason for Hope: a Spiritual Journey (2000): Reason for Hope: a Spiritual Journey (2000), with Phillip Berman.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Jane Goodall

About Jane Goodall

Dame Jane Morris Goodall DBE, born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall (3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, was an English primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist most famous for her study of chimpanzee social and family life in the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. She also founded the Jane Goodall Institute. In April 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace.