--- title: "1 Extinctions Quotes By David Quammen" description: "1 Extinctions quotes by David Quammen. Plus more from David Quammen and more Extinctions sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/david-quammen-9256_biogeography_there-s-a-voice-that-says-so-what-it-s-n_1983896.jpg" --- > [“There’s a voice that says: "So what?" It’s not my voice, it’s probably not yours, but it makes itself heard in the arenas of public opinion, querulous and smug and fortified by just a little knowledge, which as always is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/there-s-a-voice-that-says-so-what-it-s-not-my-voice-it-s-probably-not/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c27/david-quammen-9256_biogeography_there-s-a-voice-that-says-so-what-it-s-n_1983896.jpg) ## Other authors on Extinctions ## More by David Quammen > [I wrote four novels, but then I realized that the world didn't need me to be a novelist, but the world could use me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-wrote-four-novels-but-then-i-realized-that-the-world-didn-t-need-me/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [I am very, very old-fashioned and clumsy. I use those long reporter notebooks. This is what a troglodyte I am. The night before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-am-very-very-old-fashioned-and-clumsy-i-use-those-long-reporter/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Most Americans know nothing about the African forest, and it seems to them a very scary, spooky dangerous place. I've spent a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/most-americans-know-nothing-about-the-african-forest-and-it-seems-to/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“Horses aren’t native to Australia. They are exotic, first brought there by European settlers barely more than two centuries ago. Hendra is probably an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/horses-aren-t-native-to-australia-they-are-exotic-first-brought-there/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Viruses have to live somewhere. They can only replicate in living creatures. So, when the Ebola virus disappears between outbreaks, it has to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/viruses-have-to-live-somewhere-they-can-only-replicate-in-living/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“People and gorillas, horses and duikers and pigs, monkeys and chimps and bats and viruses: We’re all in this together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/people-and-gorillas-horses-and-duikers-and-pigs-monkeys-and-chimps/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Islands are havens and breeding grounds for the unique and anomalous. They are natural laboratories of extravagant evolutionary experimentation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/islands-are-havens-and-breeding-grounds-for-the-unique-and-anomalous/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“Each outbreak, by this view, represents a local event primarily explicable by a larger cause—the arrival of the wave. The main proponent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/each-outbreak-by-this-view-represents-a-local-event-primarily/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“The Towner paper contained a very interesting statement, as an aside, concerning the five ebolaviruses: “Viruses of each species have genomes that are at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/the-towner-paper-contained-a-very-interesting-statement-as-an-aside/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [I used to read only fiction. Now I don't read much, only occasionally, such as a Cormac McCarthy or a Jim Harrison novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-used-to-read-only-fiction-now-i-don-t-read-much-only-occasionally/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [The swallow that hibernates underwater is a creature called yearning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/the-swallow-that-hibernates-underwater-is-a-creature-called-yearning/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [“It comes and it goes. But epidemiologists have recognized that, with measles virus, as with other pathogens, there’s a critical minimum size of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/it-comes-and-it-goes-but-epidemiologists-have-recognized-that-with/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Whether you like the label 'Anthropocene' or not, whether you find the prospect of what it signifies inevitable or appalling (or both), the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/whether-you-like-the-label-anthropocene-or-not-whether-you-find-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [Ebola isn't a respiratory virus. It doesn't spread through the airborne route. So it's not likely to spread like wildfire around the world and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/ebola-isn-t-a-respiratory-virus-it-doesn-t-spread-through-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) > [I'm a white, middle-class male who had a happy childhood in Ohio. The world does not need me to be a novelist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-m-a-white-middle-class-male-who-had-a-happy-childhood-in-ohio-the/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinctions/david-quammen/#itemlist", "name": "1 Extinctions Quotes By David Quammen", "numberOfItems": 1, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There’s a voice that says: \"So what?\" It’s not my voice, it’s probably not yours, but it makes itself heard in the arenas of public opinion, querulous and smug and fortified by just a little knowledge, which as always is a dangerous thing. \"So what if a bunch of species go extinct?\" It says. \"Extinction is a natural process. Darwin himself said so, didn’t he? 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