“We're like America's little pit bull. They beat it, starve it, mistreat it, and once in a while they let it out to attack somebody.”

“When dancing with a pit bull, it's always best to let him lead.”

“This morning, thanks to a controlled near-death experience, I was lucky enough to meet, at the far end of the blue tunnel, a man named Salvatore Biagini. Last July 8th, Mr. Biagini, a retired construction worker, age seventy, suffered a fatal heart attack while rescuing his beloved schnauzer, Teddy, from an assault by an unrestrained pit bull named Chele, in Queens.The pit bull, with no previous record of violence against man or beast, jumped a four-foot fence in order to have at Teddy. Mr. Biagini, an unarmed man with a history of heart trouble, grabbed him, allowing the schnauzer to run away. So the pit bull bit Mr. Biagini in several places and then Mr. Biagini's heart quit beating, never to beat again. I asked this heroic pet lover how it felt to have died for a schnauzer named Teddy. Salvador Biagini was philosophical. He said it sure as heck beat dying for absolutely nothing in the Viet Nam War.”

“Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is a little like expecting the bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.”

“He's a pit bull," Adam said."I know some really nice pit bulls.""He's the kind of pit that makes the evening news. Gansey's trying to restrain him.""How noble.”

“The world will give you relief once ina while, a brief time out; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, were somebody dabs mrecy on your beat-up life.”