Donald Johanson

I was very intellectually oriented, very early on.

— Donald Johanson

My real father died when I was two years old, so I never knew him. He was a barber in Chicago.

— Donald Johanson

One has to take initiative in life to achieve what he or she wants.

— Donald Johanson

Scientists are very afraid of being proven wrong.

— Donald Johanson

When we look for the origins of all humanity today, let's not just look at Europe, because I think Africa was the…

— Donald Johanson

Normally, we are happy to find a fragment of jaw, a few isolated teeth, a bit of an arm, a bit of…

— Donald Johanson

I realized immediately that this was a terribly important discovery, but I didn't realize how important it would be until we had…

— Donald Johanson

Commitment, belief and positive attitude are all important if you're going to be a success, whether you're in sports, in business or,…

— Donald Johanson

I was aware of it, but I grew up in a very a-religious family. My mother never went to church, she never…

— Donald Johanson

One has to devote oneself to a particular pursuit. To be successful at anything, you have to make a total commitment to…

— Donald Johanson

In our case, finding a Lucy is unique. No one will ever find another Lucy. You can't order one from a biological…

— Donald Johanson

And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where…

— Donald Johanson

Where we are going as a species is a big question. Human evolution certainly hasn't stopped. Every time individuals produce a new…

— Donald Johanson

The right question to ask from a Darwinian prospective is what was it about bipedalism that was so advantageous? Why did it…

— Donald Johanson

When I realized, in 1978, that Lucy did represent a new species of human ancestor, and that I had an opportunity to…

— Donald Johanson

As an undergraduate, I had an opportunity to go on a number of archeological digs. So I had experience excavating, digging up…

— Donald Johanson

I find a tremendous receptivity among the public for the subject matter of, 'Where did we come from and how did we…

— Donald Johanson

When the first fossils began to be found in eastern Africa, in the late 1950s, I thought, what a wonderful marriage this…

— Donald Johanson

Journalists often ask me when I go to the field, 'What do you expect to find?' And my answer always is, 'The…

— Donald Johanson

What's changed is we now have good anatomical, geological, archaeological evidence that Neanderthals are not our ancestors. When I wrote 'Lucy,' I…

— Donald Johanson

All mammals undergo a certain degree of diversification. Darwin knew that. When he drew a family tree, it had many branches on…

— Donald Johanson

You don't just magically flip some evolutionary switch somewhere and transmute a quadruped into an upright-walking bipedal human.

— Donald Johanson

Lucy brought with her an image of our human ancestors that you don't get when you find a jaw or an arm…

— Donald Johanson

Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the…

— Donald Johanson

I think that many of my ideas are correct, but I'll bet you, before my death other discoveries will be made that…

— Donald Johanson

But what really excited me was the idea that humans had a tremendous pre-history that went back millions of years. I wanted…

— Donald Johanson

Regardless of what we look like on the outside, genetically, on the inside, everyone is an African.

— Donald Johanson

We are placed in the genus of Homo, which is Latin for man - Homo sapiens: supposedly wise men. I sometimes think…

— Donald Johanson

It's very hard for all of us, when we've committed ourselves to a particular interpretation, to change our minds.

— Donald Johanson

Most Achievers I Know Are People Who Have Made A Strong And Deep Dedication to Pursuing A Particular Goal. That Dedication Took…

— Donald Johanson

This was the most important discovery I had ever made in my life. It was a discovery which has irrevocably changed my…

— Donald Johanson

Evolution explains our biological evolution, but human beings are very unique creatures. As the Dobzhansky said, all animals are unique; humans are…

— Donald Johanson

But it really wasn't until three to four years later, when we had an opportunity in the lab to make very detailed…

— Donald Johanson

What makes us human depends on what place on our evolutionary path we're talking about. If you go back six million years…

— Donald Johanson

There have been some friendships lost over this. That's the most difficult for me. I find it very uncomfortable to know that…

— Donald Johanson

If you were to go to the National Museum in Addis Ababa, you would walk into a huge room filled with literally…

— Donald Johanson

I don't think we interbred with the Neanderthals at all. There are some people who think that there was some level of…

— Donald Johanson

I was being groomed as an undergraduate to specialize in Midwestern prehistory, but going back to my teenage days, my interest has…

— Donald Johanson