On Dogs

Alfred North Whitehead, 1861-1947
Dialogues
If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you; but if a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer. [TOP]

Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894
Familiar Studies of Men and Books
You think those dogs will not be in Heaven!
I tell you they will be there long before any of us. [TOP]

Agnes Sligh Turnbull, 1888-1979
The Flowering
Dogs’ lives are too short. Their only fault, really. [TOP]

Mark Twain, 1835-1910
What is Man?
Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. [TOP]

Joussenel
The more one comes to know men, the more one comes to admire the dog. [TOP]

Edith Wharton, 1862-1937
A Lyrical Epigram
My little old dog;
A heartbeat at my feet. [TOP]

Anna Hempstead Branch
To a Dog
If there is no God for thee
Then there is no God for me. [TOP]

Julian S. Cutler
Roger and I
You’re only a dog, old fellow; a dog,
and you’ve had your day;
But never a friend of all my friends
has been truer than you alway. [TOP]

Anonymous
In memory of Pompey, a dog, inscribed on a headstone above her grave
Beneath this stone are deposited the remains of one who possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity, and all the virtues of a man without his vices. [TOP]

Senator George Graham Vest
Euology on the Dog
The one, absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. [TOP]

Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887
Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
The dog is the god of frolic. [TOP]

Samuel Butler, 1835-1902
Higgledy-Piggledy, in Notebooks
The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too. [TOP]

Jerome K. Jerome, 1859-1927
The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
He is very important, a dog is; he never makes it his business to inquire whether you are in the right or the wrong, never asks whether you are rich or poor, silly or wise, sinner or saint. You are his pal. That is enough for him. [TOP]

Arthur Guiterman, 1871-1943
Little Lost Pup
Oh, the saddest of sights in a world of sin
Is a little lost pup with his tail tucked in! [TOP]

Agnes Repplier, 1855-1950
Under Dispute
Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our collossal vanity with their uncritical homage. [TOP]

Konrad Lorenz, 1903-
Man Meets Dog
The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being. [TOP]

...Even today, man’s heart is still the same as that of the higher social animals, no matter how far the achievements of his reason and his rational moral sense transcend theirs. The plain fact that my dog loves me more than I love him is undeniable and always fills me with a certain feeling of shame. [TOP]

King Solomon’s Ring
There is no faith which has never yet been broken, except that of a truly faithful dog. [TOP]

Edith Wharton, 1862-1937
My little old dog;
A heartbeat at my feet. [TOP]

Kathie Flood
On Abandonment
A dog sits waiting
in the hot midday sun;
too faithful to leave,
too frightened to run.
He’s been there for days now
with nothing to do
but sit by the road
just waiting for you.
He can’t understand
why you left him that day.
He thought you were stopping
to take him to play.
He’s sure you’ll come back
and that’s why he stays.
How long can he suffer?
How many more days?
His legs have grown weak,
his throat’s parched and dry.
He’s sick now from hunger;
he falls with a sigh.
He lays down his head
and closes his eyes.
I wish you could see
how a waiting dog dies. [TOP]

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