--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The dog has seldom been successful in…" description: "\"The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.\" — James Thurber" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png" --- # The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to… ![“The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.” quote by James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png) > “The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.” [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dogs rarely elevate human wisdom, yet humans often lower dogs’ status. **In simple terms:** Dogs don’t raise us; we pull them down. Key Takeaway Respect the intelligence of all beings. Themes human-animal relations wisdom humility ego Mood reflective critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - animal welfare - education - leadership training Key Concepts species hierarchy ethical treatment Questions to Reflect On - How can we value animal perspectives? - What biases limit our respect for others? 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Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently dragged the dog down to his.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Thurber" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pulling-man-up-to-its-level-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Animal" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pulling-man-up-to-its-level-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/147/james-thurber-1534_animal_the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pu_2698363.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The dog has seldom been successful in pulling man up to its level of sagacity, but man has frequently…” — James Thurber", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Thurber", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The dog has seldom been successful...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pulling-man-up-to-its-level-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/the-dog-has-seldom-been-successful-in-pulling-man-up-to-its-level-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```