Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope : A Spiritual Journey (1999), p. xi

There are really only two ways, it seems to me, in which we can think about our existence here on Earth. We either agree with Macbeth that life is nothing more than a "tale told by an idiot," a purposeless emergence of life-forms including the clever, greedy, selfish, and unfortunate species that we call homo sapiens — the "evolutionary goof." Or we believe that, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it, "There is something afoot in the universe, something that looks like gestation and birth." In other words, a plan, a purpose to it all.

— Jane Goodall on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "There are really only two ways, it seems to me, in which we can think about our existence here on Earth. We either agree with Macbeth that life is nothing more than a "tale told by an idiot," a purposeless emergence of life-forms including the clever, greedy, selfish, and unfortunate species that we call homo sapiens — the "evolutionary goof." Or we believe that, as Pierre Teilhard de Chardin put it, "There is something afoot in the universe, something that looks like gestation and birth." In other words, a plan, a purpose to it all." in the context of "Jane Goodall, Reason for Hope : A Spiritual Journey (1999), p. xi" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Pierre Teilhard de Chardin" (Quotes about Teilhard: Sorted alphabetically by author or source) 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.