“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.”
~ Dr. Jane Goodall

I have some anger around this loss. So many of us liked her, admired her, without listening to her. Without acting upon the message she so tirelessly worked to see manifest, right up to through the end of her 91 beautiful years.

“Caring for others, whether people or animals, is what makes us fully human.”

For many of us, when an icon worthy of our admiration passes, it’s a calcifying of benevolent laziness, instead of a reinforcing of our instinct toward radical, active love.

Too many of us look up to examples without following them. We say, “they’re doing good things, how nice” without being kind our caring ourselves. Without sharing in the weight that they carry for so many of us. It’s a sort of disservice, a disrespect, to the work and legacies of those we admire.

“Here we are, the most clever species ever to have lived. So how is it we can destroy the only planet we have?”

We are losing our best—Redford last week—may their active loving examples remind us of the best, the kindest in us—we need our goodness to awaken all the more in these dark days.

“We can have a world of peace. We can move toward a world where we live in harmony with nature. Where we live in harmony with each other. No matter what nation we come from. No matter what our religion. No matter what our culture. This is where we’re moving towards.”

~ her message for Peace Day

Please go vegan. Please avoid plastic. Please care. To those who do, thank you for actually emulating her caring example.

“I became a vegetarian after reading a book about intensive farming, and I was utterly shocked. So the next time I looked at a piece of meat on my plate I thought this symbolizes fear, pain and death, and I don’t want to eat that.”

May her good work and vital legacy continue: janegoodall.org

“Rest in peace, Dr. Goodall. Your legacy of compassion and scientific discovery will forever inspire the world.”

What an amazing woman.

“The most intellectual creature to ever walk Earth is destroying its only home.” ~ Dr. Jane Goodall

For more: Jane Goodall Captures our Hearts in a Powerful 5 Minutes. {Video}