“I don't know [why we're here]. People sometimes say to me, "Why don't you admit that the hummingbird, the butterfly, and the Bird-of-Paradise are proof of the wonderful things produced by Creation?" And I always say, "Well, when you say that, you've also got to think of a little boy sitting on a riverbank, like here, in West Africa, that's got a little worm, a living organism, that's in its eye and boring through its eyeballs and is slowly turning it blind. The creator God that you believe in, presumably, also made that little worm."”

— David Attenborough

Now I personally find that difficult to accommodate and so therefore [sic] when I make these films, I prefer to show what I know to be the facts, what I know to be true, and then people can deduce what they will from that.
"Sir David Attenborough" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sir-david-attenborough/, interview with Ed Bradley, CBS News (7 November 2002)

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David Attenborough 70

British broadcaster and naturalist 1926

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“I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature. To which I reply and say, "Well, it's funny that the people, when they say that this is evidence of the Almighty, always quote beautiful things. They always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses." But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before he's five years old. And I reply and say, "Well, presumably the God you speak about created the worm as well," and now, I find that baffling to credit a merciful God with that action. And therefore it seems to me safer to show things that I know to be truth, truthful and factual, and allow people to make up their own minds about the moralities of this thing, or indeed the theology of this thing.”

David Attenborough (1926) British broadcaster and naturalist

From the BBC documentary Life on Air (2002)

“A lot of people complaining that there is no work. I say, "Why you say that for?" When nothin' you got is US-made — they don't make nothin' here no more.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Infidels (1983), Union Sundown

“I had a dream
I got everything I wanted
But when I wake up, I see
You with me

And you say
As long as I'm here
No one can hurt you
Don't wanna lie here
But you can learn to
If I could change the way that you see yourself
You wouldn't wonder why you hear
"They don't deserve you"”

Billie Eilish (2001) American singer-songwriter

"everything i wanted"
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“Always looking for a meaning,
all the time you keep believing,
but I don't know why
you won't say goodbye.
Even when the sun is shining
you don't see the silver lining,
but I don't know why
you won't say goodbye.”

Enya (1961) Irish singer, songwriter, and musician

Song lyrics, Amarantine (2005)

“No I don't believe you
When you say don't come around here no more.
I want to remind you,
You said we wouldn't be apart.
No, I don't believe you
When you say you don't need me anymore.
So don't pretend
To not love me at all.”

Pink (singer) (1979) American singer-songwriter

I Don't Believe You, written by Pink and Max Martin
Song lyrics, Funhouse (2008)

“Sex and murder are the same. Well, you say the same after both don't you? "Damn I got to get the hell out of here!"”

Dave Attell (1965) comedian

"What was I thinking!"
Comedy Central Presents: Dave Attell

“During these travels he's starting to train me in a most interesting way. We'd be sitting somewhere and I'd say,
"Did I ever tell you about the time that Tim and I …"
And he'd say, "Don't think about the past. Just be here now."
Silence.
And I'd say, "How long do you think we're going to be on this trip?"
And he'd say, "Don't think about the future. Just be here now."
I'd say, "You know, I really feel crumby, my hips are hurting …"”

Ram Dass book Be Here Now

"Emotions are like waves. Watch them disappear in the distance on the vast calm ocean."
Be Here Now (1971)

“Cause when you got love, like we got love.
I'm holding on to heaven, holding onto you.
When you got one, like I got one.
Anyway you looking, it's a hell of a view.
Don't know where we're gonna be, but I know we're be sitting on top of the world.
So keep hanging onto me.
Yeah, don't you wanna be sitting on top of the world?
Top of the world.”

Tim McGraw (1967) American country singer

Top of the World
Song lyrics, Damn Country Music (2015)

“They say Archaeopteryx is proof for evolution. You got one here on the table, Brother, Archaeopteryx? Whenever you buy a bag of dinosaurs, they almost always stick one of these in there. Archaeopteryx. Wow. And this somehow gets the impression to the kids, "Wow, we've got proof that dinosaurs turned to birds. Here's one here with feathers on it." They're lying. It's still in the textbooks, I mean today, about Archaeopteryx. And it's been proven years ago, Archaeopteryx was just a bird, a perching bird. Alan Feduccia, who believes in evolution, says it's not a missing link. It had the right features for flight. All the features of the brain were for flight, okay? Archaeopteryx means "ancient wing," and he had claws on his wings. Well, that's kind of unusual, okay. But twelve birds today have claws on their wings. There is the swan, the ibis, the hoatzin… several birds have claws. They say, "Well, he had teeth in his beak." Well, not many birds have teeth, some do. There's the hummingbird that has teeth in his beak. But most birds don't have teeth, I agree. Actually, some mammals have teeth, some don't. Some birds have teeth, some don't. Some fish have teeth, some don't. Some of you have teeth, some don't, okay? Missing link!”

Kent Hovind (1953) American young Earth creationist

Creation seminars (2003-2005), Lies in the textbooks

“Dear God, here it is finished, this poor little Mass. Is this sacred music which I have written or music of the devil? I was born for opera buffa, as you well know. A little science, a little heart, that's all. Be blessed, then, and admit me to Paradise.”

Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) Italian composer

Bon Dieu; la voilà terminée, cette pauvre petite messe. Est-ce bien de la musique sacrée que je viens de faire, ou bien de la sacré musique ? J'étais né pour l'opera buffa, tu le sais bien! Peu de science, un peu de coeur, tout est là. Sois donc béni et accorde-moi le Paradis.
Epigraph to his Petite Messe Solennelle (1863). Translation from Emanuele Senici (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Rossini (2004) p. 23.

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David Attenborough 70

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