'Tis better to die as a lion than to live 1000 years as a dog

lions are cats. dogs are, well, dogs.

I really don't want to have to bring up that whole cat-person dog-person thing. cats are selfish and pay little attention to anyone around them, unless of course, that person is there to feed them or lavish affection upon them.

dogs are silly animals, and droolie, and chase balls, and cars. they're loyal, mostly, and they don't bring home dead baby bunnies. I'm pretty sure that I've forgotten where I was going with this. I think it was somewhere along the lines of

You can die a lion, but you'll still have been a cat. Yes, lions are fierce and scary-looking, but they are cats and get hairballs like any other cats. Only their hairballs are bigger. Oh dear, where have I gone...

Dogs, on the other hand, poo on the ground, don't lick their own dirt off. (you have no idea how gross that must be), and they sometimes hang out with firefighters if they are lucky enough to be friendly and spotted...

I believe this to be a scene from catch 22 (excuse my mistakes – I’m working from memory) – a young American officer is talking to an old Italian bordello owner, who tells him how he changes his political opinion to suit the people running the country at the time. The American officer is appalled – how can someone be so spineless? “It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees”, he says to the Italian, who answers:
“No, no! You got it all wrong! It is better to live on your feet than to die on your knees”.
What’s the point of all this? Honor is a meme, carefully selected with extra features to propagate itself through bearers’ minds (Such as this title). However, from a rational point of view, “living like a lion” is not always worth it. It’s extremely interesting to note that dogs will often choose to die like lions, while cats will usually choose to live like dogs.