QuoteProject
Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love and loyalty. They depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog; it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs, your heart is very big.
Erica Jong
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the deep emotional impact that dogs have on our lives, teaching us about love, loyalty, and the pain of loss.

Erica Jong's quote highlights the profound relationship humans have with dogs, illustrating how these animals not only bring joy and companionship but also serve as teachers of vital life lessons such as love and loyalty. The departure of a beloved dog teaches us about loss, yet the arrival of a new dog signifies the expansion of our capacity to love; thus, those who have experienced love for multiple dogs possess a heart that is capable of immense love and resilience.

Themes

DogsLoveLoyaltyLossHeartCompanionship

In practice

Example use cases

During a pet adoption event, I shared this quote to convey the deep bond people form with their dogs.

More from Erica Jong

My reaction to porno films is as follows: After the first ten minutes, I want to go home and screw. After the first twenty minutes, I never want to screw again as long as I live.
Erica JongRead
I have accepted fear as a part of life - specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back.
Erica JongRead
No one ever found wisdom without also being a fool. Writers, alas, have to be fools in public, while the rest of the human race can cover its tracks.
Erica JongRead
My generation was not only maligned in book reviews and attacked in graduate school but we lived to see our adored and adorable daughters wonder why feminism had become a dirty word.
Erica JongRead
Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more.
Erica JongRead
I believe that women should live for love, for motherhood and for intellect, and I believe we shouldn't have to choose. And I believe that's always been difficult for women, to express themselves intellectually, maternally, and passionately.
Erica JongRead

Similar quotes

To love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.
Sherman AlexieRead
If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.
Frederick BuechnerRead
Lovers should not separate from each other after making love without admiring each other, without being conquered as well as conquering, so that no feeling of satiation or desolation arises nor the horrid feeling of misusing or having been misused.
Hermann HesseRead
Speak tenderly; let there be kindness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile, in the warmth of your greeting. Always have a cheerful smile. Don't only give your care, but give your heart as well.
Mother TeresaRead
Affection should not be too sharp eyed, and love is not made by magnifying glasses.
Thomas BrowneRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.