Memorable Quotes from Bill Travers
7 quotesThe Dilemma of Taming Wild Animals
Joy Adamson
Elsa, Elsa
George Adamson
Let's try this.
Joy Adamson
all my nightmares had come true.
George Adamson
...she can't make it. she can't think. she can't mix with her own kind... She can't do anything the wild animals do to survive. You've done too good a job on her. You've made her tame. It's too late to try to let her go wild now. All we're doing is making her miserable, torturing her. How could you be so cruel?
Joy Adamson
You keep quiet George.
George Adamson
I don't know what goes on in that head of yours anymore... What's wrong with a zoo, anyway?
Joy Adamson
nothing. Except that she won't be free.
George Adamson
and Is freedom so important?
Joy Adamson
yes, yes, she was born free and she has the right to live free. Why don't we live in a more comfortable setting George? Other people do. We chose to live out here cause it represents freedom for us. Because we can breathe.
George Adamson
Joy, tell me the truth. You just don't want to give her up. What you're really hoping is that she can stay out here, wild, but not too wild. That you can see her every now and then.
Joy Adamson
it's not the whole truth. But I don't deny I'd like it.
George Adamson
it's impossible. It cannot happen.
Joy Adamson
...at least she would be free. At least she wouldn't be in a cage for the rest of her life.
George Adamson
even if she gets herself killed in the process.
Joy Adamson
I'd never forgive myself I suppose. although at one time we were afraid she'd die, Elsa did recover. And when she did, she seemed somehow different.
[stroking Elsa's leg; narrates]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Debating the Value of Capturing Gorgo
Sam Slade
We might be able to catch it in the nets. But how do you propose to kill a thing like that?
Joe Ryan
Oh, I don't know. Dynamite, maybe?
Sam Slade
Ever stop to think what a thing like that might be worth alive?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Self-Reflection and Regret
Graham Merrill
What an idiot I am!
[trapped on roof of his cottage after Mij knocks ladder over]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Questioning the Pursuit of a Conventional Life
Graham Merrill
Escape the rat race?
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Discovery of an Infant Creature
Professor Flaherty
Captain Ryan. The creature that you have captured is not an adult specimen.
Sam Slade
You mean it isn't fully grown?
Professor Flaherty
No. In fact, we believe it is in rather early infancy.
Sam Slade
You're trying to say there may be a fully grown one of these things around somewhere?
Professor Hendricks
It's a fair assumption. Where there are offspring, there are generally parents.
Joe Ryan
How big would a full-grown one be?
Professor Flaherty
An approximate guess? The infant. The adult.
[He shows them two scale drawings of the creatures]
Joe Ryan
That would make it nearly two hundred feet tall!
Professor Flaherty
At the very least.
Professor Hendricks
Obviously, the proper authorities must be notified at once.
Joe Ryan
What are you trying to do? Stir up a whole hornet's nest because of a few calculations made on a piece of paper? Nuts to that!
Professor Flaherty
I'm afraid, Captain Ryan, the decision is no longer in your hands.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Traveling with an Otter Is Challenging
Graham Merrill
It's not the easiest thing in the world to travel by train with an otter.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Gentle Encouragement to Mij
Graham Merrill
Come, steady now, Mij.
[on a train]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.