Going to the Dogs

I love dogs and have always found quotes about dogs interesting. Primarily for what is being said, but I sometimes find who said it equally, if not more interesting. These are quotes that I have chosen to include in my memoir which is a collection of stories about the adventures, the misadventures that I have experienced with dogs.

I think dogs are the most amazing creatures;
they give unconditional love.
For me they are the role model for being alive.

Gilda Radner

Let sleeping dogs lie – who wants to rouse ‘em

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

My little dog – a heartbeat at my feet.

Edith Wharton

Cave Canem

Latin proverb meaning ‘Beware of Dog’

Every dog is a lion at home.

H.G.Bohn, Handbook of Proverbs [1855]

The poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first to welcome, foremost to defend.

Lord Byron

Happiness is a warm puppy.

Charles Schultz

Love – that which biologists, nervous about being misunderstood, call ‘attachment’ – fuels the bond between dog and master or mistress.

John Bradshaw, Dog Sense

Like a dog, he hunts in dreams.

Alfred Tennyson, Locksley Hall [1842]

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.

Samuel Butler

I agree with Agassiz that dogs possess 
something very like a conscience.

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man [1871]

A dog in the kitchen asks for no company.

French proverb

A house without either a dog or cat
is the house of a scoundrel.

Portuguese proverb

If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.  

Woodrow Wilson

It’s good when a dog is a friend, but it’s bad when a friend is a dog.

Anonymous

The dog is the only creature who saw his God with his own eyes.

Jack London

Qui me amat, amat et canem meum
Love me, love my dog.

St. Bernard, Sermon [ c.1155]

Recollect that the Almighty, who gave the dog to be companion of our pleasures and our tolls, hath invested him with a nature noble and incapable of deceit.

Sir Walter Scott, The Talisman [1825]

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will never bite you. This is the difference between a dog and a man.

Mark Twain

The only creatures that are evolved enough to convey pure love are dogs and infants. 

Johnny Depp

Dogs are not our whole lives, but they make our lives whole.

Roger Caras

Dogs are great. Bad dogs, if you can really call them that, are perhaps the greatest of all.

John Grogan, Marley & Me: Life with the world’s worst dog

I’m suspicious of people who don’t like dogs,
but I trust a dog when it doesn’t like a person.

Bill Murray

A dog is the only thing on earth 
that loves you more than he loves himself.

Josh Billings

It’s hard not to immediately fall in love
with a dog who a a good sense of humor.

Kate DiCamillo, Because of Winn-Dixie

Everyone thinks they have the best dog.
And none of them are wrong.

W.R.Purche

Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive
evidence that you are wonderful.

Ann Landers

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight;
it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Everything I know, I learned from dogs.

Nora Ephron, The Search

People leave imprints on our lives…
Dogs, however, leave paw prints on our lives and souls,
which are as unique as fingerprints in every way.

Ashly Lorenzana

The greatest fear dogs know is the fear 
you will not come back when you go out the door without them.

Stanley Coren

Did you know there are over 300 words for love in canine?

Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere

When an 85 lb. mammal licks your tears away,
and then tries to sit on your lap,
it’s hard to feel sad.

Kristan Higgins

I have caught more ills from people sneezing over me
and giving me virus infections than from kissing dogs.

Barbara Woodhouse

Petting, scratching, and cuddling a dog could be as soothing to the mind and heart as deep meditation and almost as good for the soul as prayer.

Dean Koontz

Dogs do speak, but only to those
Who know how to listen.

Orhan Parnuk

When God created dogs. He just sat back and smiled.

Will Rogers

A dog can’t think that much about what he’s doing, 
he just does what feels right. 

Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

You gonna eat that?
You gonna eat that?
You gonna eat that?

I’ll eat that.

Karen Shepard, Birch

I don’t think twice about picking up my dog’s poop, 
but if another dog’s poop is next to it, I think, ‘Eww, dog poop! 

Jonah Goldberg

The house is chaos sometimes when the dogs are trying to eat the kids’ food or jumping into the tub with them. But it’s worth it. Life with dogs is better. 

Drew Barrymore, Wildflower

I have a crippling fear of being without a dog. 

― Morgan Matson, Take Me Home Tonight

Why that dog is practically a Phi Beta Kappa
She can sit up and beg, and she can give her paw – 
I don’t say she will but she can.

Dorothy Parker

A dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way. 

Quentin Tarantino

I can’t do everything I want, but I can put a smile on my dog’s face. 
Making him happy makes me happy.

Oliver Markus Malloy, Inside the Mind of an Introvert

Don’t you know that this is the only reason we are here,
 to love one another, and to be loved? 
Why is it that what is so obvious to dogs 
is such a mystery to men and women?” 

Jennifer Finney Boylan, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together . . .

Anonymous

My dog taught me everything I need to know. It’s okay sometimes to just eat and sleep. When you fall down, get back up, shake it off, forget about it, and go on. Be very brave no matter your size. Make your own fun. Unleash your talents. Learn new tricks no matter your age. Make new friends. Sniff out opportunities. Chase after your dreams. When loved ones come home always run to greet them. At the end of the day it’s best to snuggle no matter what happened. Every day is a brand-new day. Just be happy!

Anonymous

Let there be Peace

It’s been a very difficult week here in Connecticut. Last week less than 30 miles away from my home was the site of the second worse school shooting in our nation’s history.  20 small children between the ages of 6 and 7 were gunned down in their classroom. 6 female educators were gunned down trying to protect the school children.  It’s a tragedy that knocks you off balance and shakes you to your very core.

It’s in times like these that I look to things that are comforting. Readings which provide some sort of guidance, faith or hope.  With Christmas around the corner these quickly came to mind.

“When you give something, just for the joy of creating, it always comes back on a much larger scale.” —Ji Lee

“Tonight I want to tell you the story of an empty stocking.

Once upon a midnight clear, there was a child’s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came with birthday gifts. We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries. We celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with gifts.

But especially with gifts. You give me a book, I give you a tie. Aunt Martha has always wanted an orange squeezer and Uncle Henry can do with a new pipe. For we forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the child born in a manger. Its his birthday we’re celebrating. Don’t let us ever forget that.

Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand of tolerance. All the shinning gifts that make peace on earth. ”
— The Christmas Sermon in the movie, The Bishop’s Wife

Bill Murray plays Francis Xavier Cross in the classic Christmas movie, Scroogred, by far one of my absolute favorites.  It’s a wonderful 1988 parody on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  The speech at the end of the movie is fantastically written and makes the point very clear.

[Frank X Cross]: “I’m not crazy. It’s Christmas Eve. It’s the one night when we all act a little nicer.  We…we smile a little easier. We…we…share a little more. For a couple of hours we are the people we always hoped we would be. It’s really a miracle because it happens every Christmas Eve. And if you waste that miracle, you’re gonna burn for it. I know. You have to do something. You have to take a chance and get involved. There are people that don’t have enough to eat and who are cold. You can go and greet these people. Take an old blanket out to them or make a sandwich and say, “Here.” “l get it now.” And if you give, then it can happen, the miracle can happen to you. Not just the poor and hungry, Everybody’s gotta have this miracle! It can happen tonight for you all! If you believe in this pure thing, the miracle will happen and you’ll want it again tomorrow! You won’t say, “Christmas is once a year and it’s a fraud.” It’s not! It can happen every day! You’ve just got to want that feeling! You’ll want it every day! It can happen to you! I believe in it now. I believe it’s gonna happen to me, now. I’m ready for it! And it’s great. It’s a good feeling. It’s better than I’ve felt in a long time. I’m ready. Have a Merry Christmas. Everybody… Did I forget something, big man?

[Calvin] “God bless us, every one.“