Quotes by Gerald Durrell

About Gerald Durrell:

Gerald is now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Jersey Zoo (now Durrell Wildlife Park) on the Channel Island of Jersey in 1958, but is perhaps best remembered for writing a number of books based on his life as an animal collector and enthusiast. He was the youngest brother of novelist Lawrence Durrell.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Roger and I would squat in the heavily scented shade of the myrtle bushes and watch the array of creatures that passed us; at certain times of the day the branches were as busy as the main street of a town.

Gerald Durrell

In conservation, the motto should always be 'never say die'.

Gerald Durrell

My childhood in Corfu shaped my life. If I had the craft of Merlin, I would give every child the gift of my childhood.

Gerald Durrell

It's all your fault, Mother,' said Larry austerely; 'you shouldn't have brought us up to be so selfish.' 'I like that!' exclaimed Mother. 'I never did anything of the sort!' 'Well, we didn't get as selfish as this without some guidance,' said Larry.

Gerald Durrell

I said I *liked* being half-educated; you were so much more *surprised* at everything when you were ignorant.

Gerald Durrell

She would seize every opportunity to dive into the bathroom, in a swirl of white towels, and once in there she was as hard to dislodge as a limpet from a rock.

Gerald Durrell

Breakfast was, on the whole, a leisurely and silent meal, for no member of the family was very talkative at that hour. By the end of the meal the influence of the coffee, toast, and eggs made itself felt, and we started to revive, to tell each other ...

Gerald Durrell

Why keep in touch with them? That's what I want to know,' asked Larry despairingly. 'What satisfaction does it give you? They're all either fossilized or mental.' 'Indeed, they're not mental,' said Mother indignantly. 'Nonsense, Mother... Look at Aun...

Gerald Durrell

We stared at the odd garment and wondered what it was for. 'What is it?' asked Larry at length. 'It's a bathing costume, of course,' said Mother. 'What on earth did you think it was?' 'It looks like a badly skinned whale,' said Larry, peering at it c...

Gerald Durrell

Overflowing with the milk of human kindness, the family had invited everyone they could think of, including people they cordially disliked.

Gerald Durrell

I can't be expected to produce deathless prose in an atmosphere of gloom and eucalyptus.

Gerald Durrell

It was no half-hearted spring, this: the whole island vibrated with it as though a great, ringing chord had been struck. Everyone and everything heard it and responded.

Gerald Durrell

Tea would arrive, the cakes squatting on cushions of cream, toast in a melting shawl of butter, cups agleam and a faint wisp of steam rising from the teapot shawl.

Gerald Durrell

Theodore had an apparently inexhaustible fund of knowledge about everything, but he imparted this knowledge with a sort of meticulous diffidence that made you feel he was not so much teaching you something new, as reminding you of something which you...

Gerald Durrell

Gradually the magic of the island [Corfu] settled over us as gently and clingingly as pollen.

Gerald Durrell

So I went instead and tasted Taki's new white wine. Spiridion! what a wine...like the blood of a dragon and smooth as a fish...

Gerald Durrell

All over the world the wildlife that I write about is in grave danger. It is being exterminated by what we call the progress of civilization.

Gerald Durrell

Zoos should concentrate more on the preservation side of things.

Gerald Durrell

High time he had another tutor,' said Larry. 'You leave the house for five minutes and come back and find him disembowelling Moby Dick on the front porch.' 'I'm sure he didn't mean any harm,' said Mother, ' but it was rather silly for him to do it on...

Gerald Durrell

Until we consider animal life to be worthy of the consideration and reverence we bestow upon old books and pictures and historic monuments, there will always be the animal refugee living a precarious life on the edge of extermination, dependent for e...

Gerald Durrell

Author Bio

  • NameGerald Durrell
  • Descriptionnaturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter
  • AliasesGerald Malcolm Durrell
  • BornJanuary 7, 1925
  • DiedJanuary 30, 1930
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionWriter
  • AwardsOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire