Peter Benchley

I hope that 'Jaws' will have brought sharks into the public interest at a time when we desperately need to reevaluate our…

— Peter Benchley

We provoke a shark every time we enter the water where sharks happen to be, for we forget: The ocean is not…

— Peter Benchley

He would have lied to himself as facilely as an alcoholic lies to himself to justify the 10 a.m. tumbler of vodka…

— Peter Benchley

“wherever they live, travel, hike, swim, fish, dive, kayak, or trek, they risk being confronted by something capable of doing them in…

— Peter Benchley

No, the shark in an updated JAWS could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim, for,…

— Peter Benchley

Without the oceans there would be no life on Earth.

— Peter Benchley

A human being is still more likely to die of a bee sting, snake bite or, Lord knows, automobile accident than by…

— Peter Benchley

“Life's full of chances to hurt yourself or someone else [...] In the next few days, you'll have more chances to hurt…

— Peter Benchley

It's hard to care deeply for something that might turn on you and eat you.

— Peter Benchley

I guess I'm a hopeful optimist, because to be a pessimist is to be suicidal.

— Peter Benchley

Because the Asian market is so omnivorous, it affects all the shark populations up and down the Central and South American coast,…

— Peter Benchley

Everything I've written is based on something that has happened to me or something that I know a great deal about.

— Peter Benchley

You're gonna need a bigger boat.

— Peter Benchley

The ocean is the only alien and potentially hostile environment on the planet into which we tend to venture without thinking about…

— Peter Benchley

“Maybe. Maybe not. Look, the Latin name for this fish is Carcharodon carcharias, okay? The closest ancestor we can find for it…

— Peter Benchley

I believe implicitly that every young man in the world is fascinated with either sharks or dinosaurs.

— Peter Benchley

“Brody felt a shimmy of fear skitter up his back. He was a very poor swimmer, and the prospect of being on…

— Peter Benchley

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

— Peter Benchley

Almost any shark, three or four feet long, could kill a human being if it chose to do it. It could make…

— Peter Benchley

I read very widely, both non-fiction and fiction, so I don't think there's a single writer who influences me.

— Peter Benchley

“The fish might well have disappeared already, but Brody wasn't willing to gamble lives on the possibility: the odds might be good,…

— Peter Benchley

There's nothing in the sea this fish would fear. Other fish run from bigger things. That's their instinct. But this fish doesn't…

— Peter Benchley

Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges.

— Peter Benchley

“What was it? What could it-- His last thought was surprise.”

— Peter Benchley

We should be afraid of sharks half as much as sharks should be afraid of us.

— Peter Benchley