In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn't merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.
Interpretation
True companionship with a dog requires us to embrace their nature rather than trying to change them.
This quote emphasizes that enjoyment of the companionship of a dog comes from accepting and embracing their true nature rather than insisting they conform to human standards. It suggests a deeper connection that enriches both the dog and the owner, inviting people to open their hearts and minds to the unique qualities of their canine friends.
In practice
During a speech about pet ownership and responsibility, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of understanding our pets.
Animals used to provide a lowlife way to kill and get away with it, as they do still, but, more intriguingly, for some people they are an aperture through which wounds drain. The scapegoat of olden times, driven off for the bystanders sins, has become a tender thing, a running injury. There, running away is me: hurt it and you are hurting me.
In deference to such spectacular carnage it is perhaps perverse to dwell upon one person's death, but we are creatures so constituted that the passing of one friend or one acquaintance has a profounder effect that that of 100,000 strangers. If there is any metaphorical truth in the Jewish proverb that he who saves one life saves the whole world, then there is equal metaphorical truth in the proposition that when one person dies, the whole world dies with them.
The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.
Life wouldn’t be worth living if I worried over the future as well as the present. When things are at their worst I find something always happens.
Youth is a blunder; Manhood a struggle, Old Age a regret.
So since I'm still here livin', I guess I will live on. I could've died for love-- But for livin' I was born.
I wonder why I don't go to bed and go to sleep. But then it would be tomorrow, so I decide that no matter how tired, no matter how incoherent I am, I can skip on hour more of sleep and live.
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