Quote by Germaine de Staël: “The more I see of men, the more I like dogs.”

A wry joke with a cutting edge — dogs are loyal, unconditional, and honest, while men (and people generally) are duplicitous, self-interested, and disappointing. This is misanthropy worn lightly, more amused than bitter. Attributed to de Staël among others, it reflects her experience of political betrayal.

De Staël endured years of political exile under Napoleon and witnessed the betrayals of the revolutionary period up close. Her salons brought together Europe's intellectual elite, giving her ample material for this kind of dry social observation.

French-Swiss writer and political thinker who was one of the most influential intellectuals in Napoleonic Europe. Her novels Delphine and Corinne, and her critical work On Literature, helped define Romanticism and championed women's intellectual and creative life.