Home > Work > The One and Only Ivan
1 " Is there anything sweeter than the touch of another as she pulls a dead bug from your fur? "
― Katherine Applegate , The One and Only Ivan
2 " Anger is precious. A silverback uses his anger to maintain order and warn his troop of danger. When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.Here in my domain, there is no one to protect. "
3 " Memories are precious ... they help tell us who we are. "
4 " I like colorful tales with black beginnings and stormy middles and cloudless blue-sky endings. But any story will do. "
5 " Growing up gorilla is just like any other kind of growing up. You make mistakes. You play. You learn. You do it all over again. "
6 " My family tree spreads wide as well. I am a great ape, and you are a great ape, and so are chimpanzees and orangutans and bonobos, all of us distant and distrustful cousins.I know this is troubling.I too find it hard to believe there is a connection across time and space, linking me to a race of ill-mannered clowns.Chimps. There's no excuse for them. "
7 " My life is flashing lights and pointing fingers and uninvited visitors. Inches away, humans flatten their little hands against the wall of glass that separates us.The glass says you are this and we are that and that is how it will always be. "
8 " Homework, I have discovered, involves a sharp pencil and thick books and long sighs. "
9 " RomanceMake eye contact.Show your form.Strut.Grunt.Throw a stick.Grunt some more.Make some moves.Romance is hard work.It looks easy on TV.I'm not sure I will ever get the hang of it. "
10 " Now I draw every day. ... If I get tired and need a break, I eat my crayons. "
11 " Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peels and leave them to rot. Everyone knows the peels are the best part. "
12 " They think I'm too old to cause trouble.Old age is a powerful disguise. "
13 " A good zoo," Stella said, "is a large domain. A wild cage. A safe place to be. It has room to roam and humans who don't hurt." She pauses, considering her words. "A good zoo is how humans make amends. "
14 " It's hard to put into words. Gorillas are not complainers. We're dreamers, poets, philosophers, nap takers. "
15 " Humans. Sometimes they make chimps look smart. "
16 " I always tell the truth, Stella replies. Although I sometimes confuse the facts. "
17 " Right now I would give all the yogurt raisins in all the world for a heart made of ice. "
18 " Her eyes hold the pale moon in them, the way a still pond holds stars. "
19 " The names are mine, but they're not me. "
20 " Human can surprise you sometimes. An unpredictable species, Homo sapiens "
