John Conway > Quotes

“Becoming sufficiently familiar with something is a substitute for understanding it.”
― John Conway

“Even the most familiar of dinosaurs may hold great surprises in their life appearance. It seems that every time the soft tissue of a dinosaur is discovered, our views of that animal, and usually all of its relatives as well, are changed drastically. Such revelations show how artificial our images of even the most well-known dinosaurs can be. What we are drawing all the time may not be the "real" animals themselves, but artifacts of an artistic tradition.”
― John Conway, All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals

“Interestingly enough, it is now known that play behaviour is not limited to birds and mammals. Monitor lizards, turtles, crocodiles and even fish and cephalopods have been reported to engage in behaviours that do not seem to serve any other purpose than simply having fun.27,28 If all these animals could play, we are certain that Mesozoic dinosaurs could, too.”
― John Conway, All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals

“Our opinion on palaeoart is that subtle references and hints of anatomical features are more realistic, more in line with what we see in living animals. Portrayed with style and in an appropriate setting, they can leave a more distinct effect on the viewer.”
― John Conway, All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals