Mary Anning

Natural History British 1799 – 1847 101 quotes

Fossil collector who discovered ichthyosaurs, noting that the pencil is the best of all preservatives.

Quotes by Mary Anning

I have been a good girl, I have been a good girl, I have been a good girl.

Reported last words 1847

The world has used me ill, and I am quite a poor woman.

Letter to a friend 1823

It is a very great pity that I am not a gentleman, for I should have been a great man.

Reported by a contemporary 1820

I am not afraid of the sea, for I was born on its shore.

Anecdotal

These are the things that make a body think.

Upon finding her first Ichthyosaur 1811

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.

Anecdotal

I have worked hard and long to bring these creatures to light.

Letter to a patron 1830

My education was in the rocks, not in the schools.

Anecdotal

Every stone tells a story, if you know how to read it.

Anecdotal

I find more wonders in the cliffs than in any book.

Anecdotal

The sea gives and the sea takes away.

Anecdotal

It's a hard life, but someone has to do it.

Anecdotal

I am but a poor woman, but I have a good eye.

Anecdotal

The earth holds many secrets, and I mean to find them.

Anecdotal

One must be patient when dealing with the past.

Anecdotal

The cliffs are my classroom, and the fossils are my teachers.

Anecdotal

I have seen things that would make a man question everything he knows.

Anecdotal

There is no greater joy than unearthing a forgotten creature.

Anecdotal

My hands are often dirty, but my mind is always clean.

Anecdotal

The world is full of wonders, if you only look close enough.

Anecdotal