Animals awaken, first facially, then bodily. Mens bodies wake before their faces do. The animal sleeps within its body, man sleeps with his body in his mind. – Malcolm De Chazal

There is a drop of blood in the snow before me…. The coyote… is in estrus…. spurred to let out a bit of herself, sending a message, telling everyone she was now ready, that the clock of her winter was ticking toward spring. – Craig Childs, The Animal Dialogues: Uncommon Encounters in the Wild

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. – Colette

It often happens that a man is more humanely related to a cat or dog than to any human being. – Henry David Thoreau