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The dog has got more fun out of Man than Man has got out of the dog, for the clearly demonstrable reason that Man is the more laughable of the two animals.
James Thurber
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Dogs derive more joy from their relationship with humans than vice versa because humans are often more comical.

In this quote, James Thurber humorously suggests that dogs enjoy their companionship with humans more than humans enjoy their pets. He posits that this is due to the inherent absurdity and folly of human behavior, making them the more laughable species in the relationship, thus yielding more happiness for dogs through their interactions with us.

Themes

DogManHumorJoyRelationship

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a speech about the joys of pet ownership.

More from James Thurber

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
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Speed is scarcely the noblest virtue of graphic composition, but it has its curious rewards. There is a sense of getting somewhere fast, which satisfies a native American urge.
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The laughter of man is more terrible than his tears, and takes more forms hollow, heartless, mirthless, maniacal.
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Things have dropped from me. I have outlived certain desires; I have lost friends, some by death... others through sheer inability to cross the street.
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The appreciative smile, the chuckle, the soundless mirth, so important to the success of comedy, cannot be understood unless one sits among the audience and feels the warmth created by the quality of laughter that the audience takes home with it.
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Unless artists can remember what it was to be a little boy, they are only half complete as artist and as man.
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