30 Quotes by Eric Knight

And there’s a funny thing about honesty; there’s no two ways about it. There’s only one way about it. Honest is honest.

She had no fear of dogs. It was man she wished to leave behind, and her senses told her they were not near. But now she feared him more than ever. Not only could his hands chain and pen one up, but he could make the terrifying thunder noises that hurt the ears and that somehow reached out like a long, invisible whip and brought pain such as that which now tore at her.

So the dogs stood for a moment – the one prone under Lassie’s stiff paw, the other cleaning himself with an air that seemed to say: “I didn’t have anything to do with this whole affair at all!

He raced on down High Street, and now Lassie seemed to catch his enthusiasm. She ran beside him, leaping high in the air, barking that sharp cry of happiness that dogs often can achieve. Her mouth was stretched wide, as collies so frequently do in their glad moments, and in a way that makes collie owners swear that their dogs laugh when pleased.

The two of them stared at the dog behind the wire. Lassie stood, ignoring them as if she were a queen and they were beings so far beneath her that she could not see them.

Lassie was so well known in the village. It was because, as the women said, “You can set your clock by her”.

When human beings are ill, they often make a show of their injuries and parade them so that others may see and give them sympathy. It is just the reverse with an animal living in its natural state. Asking no sympathy, deeming rather that weakness of any kind is something to be ashamed of, it crawls away into some hidden corner and there, alone, it awaits the outcome – either recovery or death.

Joe trotted beside his father, who walked quickly. He was thinking that he would never be able to understand why grown-ups were so hard-hearted just when you needed them most.

The collie heard the word “lass,” and barked at it. The pedlar shook his head. “Nay, that’s the pity of it. Ye can understand some o’ man’s language, but man isn’t bright enough to understand thine. And yet it’s us that’s supposed to be most intelligent!