WIST Quotations

Whitehead, Alfred North -- In Lucien Price, ed., Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogue 25, 1941-12-10 (1954)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:49:40 +0000

If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you. If a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947) English mathematician and philosopher
In Lucien Price, ed., Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogue 25, 1941-12-10 (1954)
(Source)

Van Vechten, Carl -- The Tiger in the House: A Cultural History of the Cat, ch. 2 (1920)

Dave — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 19:05:02 +0000

Now a cat will not take an excursion merely because a man wants a walking companion. Walking is a human habit into which dogs readily fall but it is a distasteful form of exercise to a cat unless he has a purpose in view.

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) American writer and photographer
The Tiger in the House: A Cultural History of the Cat, ch. 2 (1920)
(Source)

Russell, Bertrand -- “Do Dogs Think?,” New York American (1932-06-15)

Dave — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 14:48:26 +0000

I do not know whether dogs can think, or what thinking is, or whether human beings can think. But whether human beings can think or not, I know that those who love dogs think that dogs can think. This, I am afraid, is the sum total of my contribution to human knowledge on this important subject.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
“Do Dogs Think?,” New York American (1932-06-15)
(Source)

Quindlen, Anna -- Article (1991-04-07), “Mr. Smith Goes to Heaven,” New York Times

Dave — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 16:20:20 +0000

A friend and mourner recalled that, growing up, she believed cats and dogs were the same animal, but that cats were the females and dogs the males. This is entirely credible.

Anna Quindlen (b. 1953) American journalist, novelist
Article (1991-04-07), “Mr. Smith Goes to Heaven,” New York Times
(Source)

Part of an obituary for her dog, Jason Oliver C. Smith. Reprinted in Thinking Out Loud (1993).

Holland, Barbara -- Endangered Pleasures, “Dogs” (1995)

Dave — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 17:26:56 +0000

Almost any dog thinks almost any human is the Great Spirit, the Primal Creator, and the Universal Force Behind the Sun and Tides. What human can resist?

Barbara Holland (1933-2010) American author
Endangered Pleasures, “Dogs” (1995)
(Source)

Hitchens, Christopher -- The Portable Atheist, Introduction (2007)

Dave — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 17:39:33 +0000

Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are god.

Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) English intellectual, polemicist, socio-political critic
The Portable Atheist, Introduction (2007)
(Source)

Frederick II (the Great) -- (Attributed)

Dave — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:19:33 +0000

The more I see of people, the more I love my dog.

[Je mehr ich von den Menschen sehe, um so lieber habe ich meinen Hund.]

Frederick II (1712-1786) King of Prussia (Frederick the Great, Friedrich der Große)
(Attributed)

This quote is widely attributed to Frederick, but I cannot find a primary or contemporary citation. The earliest attribution to Frederick I find is in a comment attributed to Otto von Bismarck in French historian Constantin de Grünwald, Bismarck (1949):

«Je suis comme Frederic II», dit-il à Radowitz: «Plus j'apprends à connaitre les hommes, plus je me mets à aimer les chiens.»

["I am like Frederick II," he told Radowitz: "The more I get to know men, the more I start to love dogs."]
[Google Translate]

As the earliest (unattributed) versions of this quote predate Bismark's adulthood, it is unlikely the formulation is originally his.

The quote is often misattributed to Charles de Gaulle, based on an article (1967-12-08), "Some General Comments, Entre Nous," Time Magazine, on political writer Jean-Raymond Tournoux's best-seller, La Tragédie du Général (1967). The article mistakes a use of the French phrase (translated as "The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs") as an attribution to De Gaulle, which, in context, it is a reference to the Bismarck quote above (and is in fact footnoted to de Grünwald's Bismarck):

Dans le petit parc, la ronde familière continue. Au passage, le chien «Vincam», berger allemand au pédigrée rare, tire sa longue, longue chaine: «Une chose me torture», dit de Gaulle... «Cet animal enchainé ... C’est impossible ... Je ne peux plus le voir ... Donnez-le à l’amiral Ortoli.»
Sur ce terrain, il se sent de plain-pied avec Frederic II, avec Bismarck: «Plus j'apprends à connaitre les hommes, plus je me mets à aimer les chiens.»

[In the small park, the familiar round continues. As we pass, the dog "Vincam," a German shepherd with a rare pedigree, pulls on his long, long chain: "One thing is torturing me," says de Gaulle ... "This chained animal ... It's impossible ... I can't stand it anymore ... Give it to Admiral Ortoli."
On this ground, he feels on the same level as Frederick II, from Bismarck: "The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs."]
[Google Translate]

The same quote is also attribute to Blaise Pascal ("Plus je vois les hommes, plus j'aime mon chien"). I cannot find a primary source of his saying it, but it is attributed to him in an inscription in the Cimetière des Chiennes in Asnières on the Ile de la Recetre on the Seinne (1, 2, 3).

Similarly, it is often attributed to Madame Germaine de Staël ("The more I know men, the more I love dogs"). Again, I can find only attributions, not a primary souce (1, 2, 3) .

For additional discussion about this quotation and its origins, see: