Quotes by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos

“Louis examined the goddess. She wore a silk gown and a gold chain; there was no doubt about it, she was a lady!That she was small and slender; that her face was pleasant, but a little vague; that her smooth chestnut hair framed her eyes of a faded blue: all this mattered nothing, was of no importance to a dog; for dogs form judgments more surely than men. They employ for this purpose none of the poor instruments that lead you and me astray, such as observation, reason or experience. Their instinct is unfettered; and it never betrays them. They know who will love them of his own accord; they guess whose affections they will have to conquer. This is why Louis, with a triumphant cock to his plumy tail, passed negligently by the mistress of the house, to pay his respects to the formidable individual who at this moment, seated at the family table, was carving a magnificent joint.””

“But suddenly, in the distance, a long, plaintive howl rends the silence. Nothing can delay Gaston now: you will soon know why. He bounds toward a string of sausages that festoons the doorway of the shop, seizes two, three of them and falls upon a ham, which he grips by the knuckle-bone; then, intoxicated with the joy of thieving, he clears the wicket at a single bound. … but oh, misfortune! Something tugs at his jaws, the string of sausages gets caught and a shrill bell tinkles, more tragic to Gaston than a funeral knell! The hour of his destiny has struck! Alas, he has to abandon his treasures! He flees; and the alarm is given: “Stop thief! Stop thief!” cries the pork-butcher, running out.””

“Golaud is a mongrel bull-dog, which is equivalent in the canine world to being without caste; but he is too proud to care what people think of him. He is a serious dog; he is sure of himself; he has weighed everything and formed his own conclusions. If he could speak he would preach. From that pugilistic-looking mouth of his, wise maxims would come forth, together with lectures as wearisome as they would no doubt would be appropriate.””

“But he surpassed other dogs by possessing greater humanity. His character underwent unexpected changes; it developed; it adopted varying moral philosophies. And is it not something, it is not indeed much, that we can speak of his “character” without smiling? He did not love us as a dog loves, without knowing why; his love was free from sordidness or servility; his hatreds and his passions were always noble””

“Maeterlinck is my god; and his shadow is my country.I have no family, no religion, no principles.My conscience is enough for me.I have seen everything and understood everything. I have not wasted my time, as human beings do, in seeking the meaning of life. I discovered it as my birth, it is obedience.””

“Sorry-looking and unlovely, with a dull coat that has all the appearance of having been clumsily patched, the sponger is generally of medium build, as though he feared that he might occupy more space if he grew bigger and find it even harder to win a place in the world of dogs and men. He is preeminently humble, servile and discreet. He refuses to be snubbed; his skin is impervious to insults; he accepts a kick with an air of compunction.””