--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Birds were flying from continent to…" description: "\"Birds were flying from continent to continent long before we were. They reached the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, long before we did. They can su..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/david-attenborough-2396_antarctica_birds-were-flying-from-continent-to-cont_2738646.jpg" --- # Birds were flying from continent to continent long before… ![“Birds were flying from continent to continent long before we were. They reached the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, long before we did. They can survive in the hottest of deserts. Some can remain on the wing for years at a time. They can girdle the globe. Now, we have taken over the earth and…” quote by David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/david-attenborough-2396_antarctica_birds-were-flying-from-continent-to-cont_2738646.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/david-attenborough-2396_antarctica_birds-were-flying-from-continent-to-cont_2738646.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dde/david-attenborough-2396_antarctica_birds-were-flying-from-continent-to-cont_2738646.jpg) > “Birds were flying from continent to continent long before we were. They reached the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, long before we did. They can survive in the hottest of deserts. Some can remain on the wing for years at a time. They can girdle the globe. Now, we have taken over the earth and the sea and the sky, but with skill and care and knowledge, we can ensure that there is still a place on Earth for birds in all their beauty and variety - if we want to... And surely, we should.” [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Birds thrive in extreme environments, showing nature’s resilience and the need for human stewardship. **In simple terms:** Birds survive everywhere; we must protect them. Key Takeaway Protect habitats for all species. Themes environment conservation resilience Mood concerned hopeful Type environmental educational When to use this quote - wildlife preservation - climate action - education programs Key Concepts ecology biodiversity Questions to Reflect On - What actions can individuals take to protect birds? - How does bird resilience inspire human solutions? A Different Perspective Human impact can still harm birds despite their resilience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antarctica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antarctica/) [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birds/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Continent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continent/) [Continent Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continent-long-3009998/) [Continents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continents/) [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Earth Birds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-birds-3009996/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Flying Continent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying-continent-3009997/) [Girdles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/girdles/) [Globes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/globes/) [Hottest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hottest/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Skills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skills/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Variety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/variety/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wings/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [The breeze has awakened the earth, the sun gave brightness to the earth. Birds gave melodious music to the earth, then its the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-breeze-has-awakened-the-earth-the-sun-gave-brightness-to-the-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We forgot this continent for a long time - and now, finally Africa is being rediscovered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-meirelles/we-forgot-this-continent-for-a-long-time-and-now-finally-africa-is/) [Fernando Meirelles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-meirelles/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [Men do not avail themselves of the riches of God's grace. They love to nurse their cares, and seem as uneasy without some fret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/men-do-not-avail-themselves-of-the-riches-of-god-s-grace-they-love-to/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [Postwar America was a very buttoned-up nation. Radio shows were run by censors, Presidents wore hats, ladies wore girdles. We came straight out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lewis/postwar-america-was-a-very-buttoned-up-nation-radio-shows-were-run-by/) [Jerry Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-lewis/) > [It's not just enough to swing at the ball. You've got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babe-didrikson-zaharias/it-s-not-just-enough-to-swing-at-the-ball-you-ve-got-to-loosen-your/) [Babe Didrikson Zaharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babe-didrikson-zaharias/) > [And the marvellous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/and-the-marvellous-rose-became-crimson-like-the-rose-of-the-eastern/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [All keyes hang not on one girdle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/all-keyes-hang-not-on-one-girdle/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [I remember thinking that a girdle was barbaric, and that never in a million years would I treat myself like a sleeping bag being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-orlean/i-remember-thinking-that-a-girdle-was-barbaric-and-that-never-in-a/) [Susan Orlean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-orlean/) > [Education is fundamental. And I know some aren't blessed to be afforded the luxury, 'cause as sad as it is in 2016, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marcille/education-is-fundamental-and-i-know-some-aren-t-blessed-to-be/) [Eva Marcille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marcille/) > [Throughout their lives, women try to pummel their bodies into some phantom ideal shape that exists only with a lot of airbrushing. ... I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-heimel/throughout-their-lives-women-try-to-pummel-their-bodies-into-some/) [Cynthia Heimel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-heimel/) > [Our conception of 1950s underwear is a lovely vintage aesthetic, but actually, wearing stockings with no elastic and a girdle was heavy duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romola-garai/our-conception-of-1950s-underwear-is-a-lovely-vintage-aesthetic-but/) [Romola Garai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romola-garai/) > [I loved the idea of doing something that has this misconception about what stewardesses were. And, I also love the idea that these girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-ricci/i-loved-the-idea-of-doing-something-that-has-this-misconception-about/) [Christina Ricci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-ricci/) > [A husband is a guy who tells you when you've got on too much lipstick and helps you with your girdle when your hips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/a-husband-is-a-guy-who-tells-you-when-you-ve-got-on-too-much-lipstick/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [Sir: This point of observation commands an area nearly 50 miles in diameter. The city, with its girdle of encampments, presents a superb scene.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thaddeus-s-c-lowe/sir-this-point-of-observation-commands-an-area-nearly-50-miles-in/) [Thaddeus S. C. Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thaddeus-s-c-lowe/) ## More by David Attenborough > [I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-just-wish-the-world-was-twice-as-big-and-half-of-it-was-still/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I'm against this huge globalisation on the basis of economic advantage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-m-against-this-huge-globalisation-on-the-basis-of-economic-advantage/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [Bringing nature into the classroom can kindle a fascination and passion for the diversity of life on earth and can motivate a sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/bringing-nature-into-the-classroom-can-kindle-a-fascination-and/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I don't approve of sunbathing, and it's bad for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-don-t-approve-of-sunbathing-and-it-s-bad-for-you/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I suspect that happiness is not a state but rather a transition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-suspect-that-happiness-is-not-a-state-but-rather-a-transition/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I don't like rats, but there's not much else I don't like. The problem with rats is they have no fear of human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-don-t-like-rats-but-there-s-not-much-else-i-don-t-like-the-problem/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“We only know a tiny proportion about the complexity of the natural world. Wherever you look, there are still things we don’t know about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/we-only-know-a-tiny-proportion-about-the-complexity-of-the-natural/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I suffer much less than many of my colleagues. I am perfectly able to go to Australia and film within three hours of arrival.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-suffer-much-less-than-many-of-my-colleagues-i-am-perfectly-able-to/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [I'm not over-fond of animals. I am merely astounded by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/i-m-not-over-fond-of-animals-i-am-merely-astounded-by-them/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [Television of course actually started in Britain in 1936, and it was a monopoly, and there was only one broadcaster and it operated on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/television-of-course-actually-started-in-britain-in-1936-and-it-was-a/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [It's extraordinary how self-obsessed human beings are. The things that people always go on about is, 'tell us about us', 'tell us about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/it-s-extraordinary-how-self-obsessed-human-beings-are-the-things-that/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [This last chapter .. may have given the impression that somehow man is the ultimate triumph of evolution, that all these millions of years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/this-last-chapter-may-have-given-the-impression-that-somehow-man-is/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [To suggest that God specifically created a worm to torture small African children is blasphemy as far as I can see. The Archbishop of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/to-suggest-that-god-specifically-created-a-worm-to-torture-small/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [In the Baboon community, it is not how strong you are that is important, but who you know that counts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/in-the-baboon-community-it-is-not-how-strong-you-are-that-is/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) [Explore all 168 David Attenborough quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) ## More Antarctica quotes > [If Antarctica were music it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-denton/if-antarctica-were-music-it-would-be-mozart-art-and-it-would-be/) [Andrew Denton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-denton/) > [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/) [David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/) > [“A forbidding-looking place, certainly, but that only made it seem the more pitiful. It was the refuge of twenty-two men who, at that very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/a-forbidding-looking-place-certainly-but-that-only-made-it-seem-the/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [“Then he opened the Bible Queen Alexandra had given them and ripped out the flyleaf and the page containing the Twenty-third Psalm. He also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lansing/then-he-opened-the-bible-queen-alexandra-had-given-them-and-ripped/) [Alfred Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lansing/) > [Antarctica, one of the things that was so remarkable about it was that the ice itself is a kind of pure geometry, so say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-spooky/antarctica-one-of-the-things-that-was-so-remarkable-about-it-was-that/) [DJ Spooky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-spooky/) > [...Was it because a lot of the heat went into melting Arctic sea ice or parts of Greenland and Antarctica, and other glaciers? Was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-e-trenberth/was-it-because-a-lot-of-the-heat-went-into-melting-arctic-sea-ice-or/) [Kevin E. Trenberth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-e-trenberth/) > [The fact that the Antarctica is beginning to look more like it's part of the story, as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-schneider/the-fact-that-the-antarctica-is-beginning-to-look-more-like-it-s-part/) [Stephen Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-schneider/) > [The literature of the emperor penguin is as forbidding, as inaccessible, as the frozen heart of Antarctica itself. Its beauties may be unearthly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-literature-of-the-emperor-penguin-is-as-forbidding-as/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-falcon-scott/had-we-lived-i-should-have-had-a-tale-to-tell-of-the-hardihood/) [Robert Falcon Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-falcon-scott/) > [How many people are moving up toward the Antarctica, or the Arctic? Most people move down to Texas and Florida, where it's a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-johnson/how-many-people-are-moving-up-toward-the-antarctica-or-the-arctic/) [Ron Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-johnson/) > [If he’d been any other man and i'd been any other girl, I’d have called the narrowing of his heavy-lidded dark eyes lust. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/if-he-d-been-any-other-man-and-i-d-been-any-other-girl-i-d-have/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“We were quiet for a while, and then I said, "I think my favorite part of Antarctica is just looking out." You know why?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-semple/we-were-quiet-for-a-while-and-then-i-said-i-think-my-favorite-part-of/) [Maria Semple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-semple/) > [Scientists say that Texas and Antarctica were connected at one time. In fact, early Mexicans used to go through Texas to try to sneak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/scientists-say-that-texas-and-antarctica-were-connected-at-one-time/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [More people should visit Antarctica, metaphorically speaking, on their own. That is one of the conclusions I have reached, one of my recommendations: explore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-rose/more-people-should-visit-antarctica-metaphorically-speaking-on-their/) [Phyllis Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-rose/) > [I'd love to go to Easter Island, Hawaii, Iceland and Antarctica.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kt-tunstall/i-d-love-to-go-to-easter-island-hawaii-iceland-and-antarctica/) [KT Tunstall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kt-tunstall/) [Browse all 94 Antarctica quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antarctica/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Birds were flying from continent to continent long before we were. They reached the coldest place on Earth, Antarctica, long before we did. They can survive in the hottest of deserts. Some can remain on the wing for years at a time. They can girdle the globe. 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