Dog Provides Example of Concentration

Martin Luther, Table-Talk, May 18, 1532:

When Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes, he [Martin Luther] said, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope."

I finally finished the Vintage Spiritual Classics* selection of Martin Luther's writings. This was one of the end-bits that stuck with me. Incidentally, the dog was called Tölpel.

* For some reason there's no obvious list of all the editions in this series to be found with a quick search, even from Vintage (they list reading guides for a few). Actually, I'm generally surprised by the poor design/content of the Vintage site, given how well-done and -chosen their books tend to be. I guess it's better than having a great site but publishing trash.