"Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own..." - Quote by Mary Oliver

“Poetry is a life-cherishing force.”

“Look, I want to love this worldas though it's the last chance I'm ever going to getto be aliveand know it.”

“Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath? Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden, and softly, and exclaiming of their dearness, fill your arms with the white and pink flowers, with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling, their eagerness to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are nothing, forever?”

“Mousse was a Labrador retriever, which is a large enthusiastic bulletproof species of dog made entirely from synthetic materials. This is the kind of dog that, if it takes an interest in your personal regions (which of course it does) you cannot fend it off with a blowtorch.”

“When I say "dogs", I'm talking about dogs, which are large, bounding, salivating animals, usually with bad breath. I am not talking about those little squeaky things you can hold on your lap and carry around. Zoologically speaking, these are not dogs at all; they are members of the pillow family.”

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

“I believe, every day, you should have at least one exquisite moment.”

“Those who show pity and are always ready to help during times of trouble are seldom the same ones who rejoice in our joy: when others are happy they have nothing to do, they become superfluous and lose their feeling of superiority, and so they easily show their displeasure.”

“To laugh often and much ... this is to have succeeded. Probably not from Emerson: here's the full quotation and the story.”