Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American scientist Terri Irwin.
Last updated on December 23, 2024.
Terri Raines Irwin is an American-Australian naturalist, conservationist, television personality, and author who is the owner of Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland. She was married to Steve Irwin until his death in 2006 due to a stingray accident.
To get someone who is sensitive yet strong... Steve was that.
When I first met Steve, as an American tourist coming into the zoo, I fell desperately in love with him and married him immediately.
I went into this little reptile park, and Steve was doing the crocodile show, coincidentally... I was absolutely floored. That was it. This man was a real-life hero. I fell then and there, love at first sight.
I found that Steve's passion for wildlife and willingness to lay his life on the line so exciting.
You might not think of 'conservation' immediately when you think of Russell Crowe, but he is a great conservationist in his own right.
Your grief path is yours alone, and no one else can walk it, and no one else can understand it.
I think, some days, you wonder how you're going to get through, and other days, you find reason to be inspired again.
I live in Australia Zoo. I have a very private home. We've got three bedrooms, one bathroom... The carpets are rose-coloured, which grossed Steve out, but I love it. He let me do everything the way I wanted. The house is just warm and cozy and small.
None of us are immune to grief, and everyone who has suffered loss understands that grief changes, but you never wake up one morning and you've moved on. It stays with you, and, you know, you ebb and flow.
I haven't dated anyone in the ten years since we lost Steve just because I feel a connection still with Steve.
Bindi's been filming with us since she first hatched.
I have tremendous faith in God that all things happen for a reason, even if we don't understand.
I'll never leave. I love Australia, and I'm doing my best to be a fair dinkum Aussie sheila and honour all of Steve's work, and yeah, I'll be here the rest of my life.
I think, for other people who have lost someone and have loved again, it's a beautiful thing. But it's just not really on my horizon.
My future is about the joy of loving those around me, of being with the people who are still here and not just mourning my loss.
For us, conservation work isn't just what we do. It's who we are. It's really defined us that this is what we've dedicated our lives to.
I think being in a car is far more dangerous. I feel much more in control with a 16 foot croc, 3,000 pounds jaw pressure trying to have a go at me.
You can't focus on yourself. You need to focus on what you're doing for others, and then you can start to heal.
I've grown up with an active outdoor lifestyle. Before I lived in Australia, I ran a construction company in Oregon, U.S.A. I also owned horses and would spend several weeks a year exploring Oregon's beautiful wilderness areas on horseback.
Good nutrition and regular exercise definitely help you cope with life's dramas.
Just like Steve did, Bindi's got that strange communication with wildlife. It's beautiful to watch, and it instills an empathy with all of us about just how important the animal kingdom is.
We've got that family opportunity of always filming together, so we can look back on good times anytime we want.
She's born and raised with wildlife, living with a zoo. What would be strange for Bindi is if she were in an apartment in suburbia with a goldfish.
I've already had my happily ever after.
Steve had a broad, easy smile and the biggest hands I had ever seen. I could tell by his stature and stride that he was accustomed to hard work.
If you can reach out and touch and love and be with wildlife, you will forever be changed, and you will want to make the world a better place.
I find it wonderful when people live, love, and laugh again.
Bindi's really, you know, got her own goals and aspirations, and if I can nurture what Bindi loves, then I think I'm being a good parent. Because Bindi's got a natural love for wildlife, I think that will be part of what we're nurturing.
I have two beautiful children. And they really are my strength.
I discovered on my own that I could cope better with the crippling effects of grief by taking care of myself, eating right, and working out.
Our message, without preaching, is how to treat wildlife and to have empathy for all animals.
When you take those vows and say, 'We'll be together as long as we both shall live,' I really don't think I would've married if I hadn't met Steve. And he's very special to me and continues to be.
I think it's wonderful when people who have lost someone find love again, but I'm not personally looking, and I haven't been on a date in 27 years. In fact, it's been so long, I've had a couple of lovely women ask me out because they figured that's the case.
I've always told Bindi, 'If anything ever happened to me, I will always watch over you from Heaven.' But she always understood because, living at a zoo, animals die; she's seen death. She knows what death is.
It does seem like, in the world today, we've moved further and further away from wildlife. There's that sense of whatever you're scared of, you just want it to go away. Here in Australia Zoo, part of our ongoing plan is that re-connection.
Bindi went in with the crocodiles when she was one month old and grew up with the crocodiles.
I'm Mrs. Steve Irwin. I've got a lot to live up to.
Never walk past a problem with an animal - fix it.
It's a dynamic of grief within any family, and I found, after we lost Steve, his dad just began distancing himself. And I think it's a coping mechanism. I found it very confusing.
Steve was every woman's fantasy: macho but not a jerk, sensitive but not a wuss.
I have friends who have lost husbands and have gone off and tried different things. Nothing wrong with that.
When we lost Steve, the grief was understandable, but I wasn't prepared for how scary everything became - that fear factor of 'Now I'm doing this on my own.'
Crocodiles are an apex predator and crucial to the ecosystem, keeping waterways and wetlands healthy. Crocodiles eradicate the weak, sick, and injured wildlife, leaving only the healthy to prosper.
It pays to be in the best shape possible when you're wrangling the largest reptiles on Earth!
To me, Steve was my Prince Charming. He was my happily ever after, and we got that. We got 14 years of marriage; we had the best, most fantastic, adventurous, wonderful life that you could imagine. And I was very happy with that.
Steve had a real sixth sense about so many things. He had an odd connection with wildlife. He was extraordinarily intuitive with people. I found it all very - I don't know if 'eerie' is the word, but remarkable, certainly.
Steve hadn't been to acting school. He had no preconceived notions. His background was exactly what you see on television; he's done that all his life. We thought we'd do one show. What happened was, it did really well, so we did a part two. And from then on, we found that Steve's natural behavior in the wild happens to be fascinating!
No matter the circumstances are that you lose someone, nobody's truly prepared. Steve's accident was so unexpected - it was extremely challenging.
Steve said to me how excited he was when Bindi was born. He said, 'Do you think we could have a boy?' And then Robert was born, and they're perfect. They're easy kids. They're wonderful to me; they're such a help.
I couldn't hold a candle to how adventurous Steve was. He found life intoxicating, and he was just in awe of every living creature.
When we lost Steve, it was a real crossroads of deciding if you're just going to curl up in the corner or try to do something even bigger and better.
Steve took my counsel on everything. He appreciated that I loved business and let me do that end of it. We complemented each other and had a natural, fun competitiveness.
The thing is, Steve's a great role model, and he won't sit there and tell you that.
There never has been before and never will be again another Steve Irwin.
The only way to honor Steve and his legacy and everything he lived for was to try to continue his work and expand on it.
Grief is never something you get over. You don't wake up one morning and say, 'I've conquered that; now I'm moving on.' It's something that walks beside you every day. And if you can learn how to manage it and honour the person that you miss, you can take something that is incredibly sad and have some form of positivity.
I don't know a single surfer who would say, 'Gee, I wish there were no sharks in the ocean.'
I still feel immense love and loyalty to Steve. And I've got great kids, I've got a very full life, and while I'm lonely for Steve, I'm not a lonely person.
I always am astounded at how willing Steve was to share all about himself. And sometimes he got criticized for it. But he was so open and yet so private about some things.
When Bindi and Robert have grown, there will probably be another life for me, and I can't anticipate exactly what that will be, but it will involve continuing Steve's work, conservation, being there for my kids, Australia Zoo.