“This was, I decided, my purpose as a dog, to comfort the boy whenever he needed me.”

“But humans drive the cars and decide when dogs eat and where dogs live and clearly this was something else in their power - they could find their dogs when they needed them.”

“My purpose, my whole life, had been to love him and be with him, to make him happy. I didn’t want to cause any unhappiness now—in that way, I decided it was probably better than he wasn’t here to see this, though I missed him so much at that moment the ache of it was as bad as the strange pains in my belly.”

“As for me: I loyally remained right where I was, remembering the very first I had ever seen the boy and then just now, the very last time-and all the times in between. The deep aching grief I knew I would feel would come soon enough, but at that moment mostly what I felt was peace, secure in the knowledge that by living my life the way I had, everything had come down to this moment. I had fulfilled my purpose.”

“You can usually tell that a man is good if he has a dog who loves him.”

“Dogs have important jobs, like barking when the doorbell rings, but cats have no function in a house whatsoever.”

“Dog’ is ‘God’ spelled backward; you know that. That’s why you’re here, to help the nuns do God’s work.”