Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Variant: If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
“If a dog starts biting you, you can't kick it up the throat like it deserves. People always say "Oh dear, poor little dog, he was only trying to be friendly. That's the way he tries to be friendly, sniffing at your ankles and biting you, you cruel, wicked man."”
"Man's Best Friend" (1964)
E. L. Wisty
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "If a dog starts biting you, you can't kick it up the throat like it deserves. People always say "Oh dear, poor little d…" by Peter Cook?
Peter Cook45
British architect 1937–1995Related quotes
“The dog won't bite if you beat Him with a bone”
Tom Waits (1949) American singer-songwriter and actor
"Lowside of the Road", Mule Variations (1999).
“When you walk a dog on a short leash, she's close enough to bite you.”
Ilona Andrews American husband-and-wife novelist duo
Source: Magic Bleeds
Russell Hoban (1925–2011) American British novelist, children's writer and illustrator
Source: Bedtime for Frances
“If you watch the wolf too hard, a mouse will bite you on the ankle”
Robert Jordan book The Eye of the World
Source: The Eye of the World
“The man recovered of the bite,
The dog it was that died.”
Oliver Goldsmith book The Vicar of Wakefield
Source: The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), Ch. 17, An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog, st. 8.
Giovanni Boccaccio book The Decameron
Essere la natura de' motti cotale, che essi come la pecora morde deono cosi mordere l'uditore, e non come 'l cane: percio che, se come cane mordesse il motto, non sarebbe motto, ma villania.
Sixth Day, Third Story
The Decameron (c. 1350)
Lynsay Sands Canadian writer
Source: Vampires are Forever