Quotes from The Plague Dogs

Richard Adams ·  390 pages

Rating: (6K votes)


“Dangerous thing, a name. Someone might catch hold of you by it, mightn't they?”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


“When the man was disgraced and told to go away, he was allowed to ask all the animals whether any of them would come with him and share his fortunes and his life. There were only two who agreed to come entirely of their own accord, and they were the dog and the cat. And ever since then, those two have been jealous of each other, and each is for ever trying to make man choose which one he likes best. Every man prefers one or the other.”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


“He was after a sensational story and this, of course, could not be constructed out of mere truth; not out of officially released truth, anyway. It was essential that the news-reading public should feel, first, that the community was in danger and secondly that people—well-off people, “official” people—who ought to have known better, were to blame for it.”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


“A quick run past the rabbits' execution shed, a turn around the kittens' quicklime pit, a moment's hesitation beyond the monkeys' gas-chamber--and they are gone: ay, not so long ago these canines fled away into the storm. It would be pleasant to report that that night Dr. Boycott dreamt of many a woe, and all his whitecoat-men with shade and form of witch and demon and large coffin-worm were long be-nightmared. One might even have hoped to add that Tyson the old died palsy-twitched, with meagre face deform. But in fact--as will be seen--none of these things happened. Slowly the rain ceased, the grey rack blowing away and over Windermere as first light came creeping into the sky and the remaining inmates of Lawson Park woke to another day in the care and service of humanity.”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


“Sheep used to have wings. One flew into the sky and all the others followed. They took their wings off while feeding in the warm sun but the wind blew away their wings so they couldn't fly anymore. They had to return to earth by drifting to where the sky curves down and touches the land, and then walk round the long way.. i like that..”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs



“How do they find out with the experiments?'

'...one way they can find out a whole lot is to make an animal ill and then try different ways to make it better until they find one that works.'

'But isn't that unkind to the animal?'

'Well, I suppose it is...but I mean, there isn't a dad anywhere who would hesitate, is there, if he knew it was going to make [his child] better? It's changed the whole world during the last hundred years, and that's no exaggeration.”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


“Once the moon gets to be full somebody - some man or other - goes up every day and slices bits of one side until there isn't any more,and then after a bit a new one grows. Men do that with all sorts of things, actually - rose bushes for instance.... The man who slices the bits off brings them down here and then they're used for making those lights on the cars. Clever isn't it... They only last about one night, I should think, because you hardly ever see them shining by day.”
― Richard Adams, quote from The Plague Dogs


About the author

Richard Adams
Born place: in Newbury, Berkshire, England, The United Kingdom
Born date May 9, 1920
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Can I give her a choice about when to do something, rather than insisting upon “right now.” (“Do you want to take your bath before your TV show or right after?”)”
― Adele Faber, quote from How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk


“Susan, you are a brilliant and interesting person. I like you very much. John, you are so warm and loving. People really appreciate that about you.”
― Shakti Gawain, quote from Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life


“One's emotions are intensified in Paris—one can be more happy and also more unhappy here than in any other place. But it is always a positive source of joy to live here, and there is nobody so miserable as a Parisian in exile from his town.”
― Nancy Mitford, quote from The Pursuit of Love


“there is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion, or company than a good marriage. May”
― Jan Karon, quote from These High, Green Hills


“We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good.’ ”
― Jan Karon, quote from Out to Canaan


Interesting books

The Gamble
(48.2K)
The Gamble
by Kristen Ashley
Seize the Night
(40.6K)
Seize the Night
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
On Liberty
(23.1K)
On Liberty
by John Stuart Mill
Alienated
(20.8K)
Alienated
by Melissa Landers
Barely Breathing
(63.4K)
Barely Breathing
by Rebecca Donovan
Forest Born
(22.2K)
Forest Born
by Shannon Hale

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.