A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.

The remark elevates canine loyalty as a rare model of selfless affection. By claiming a dog loves its owner “more than he loves himself,” Billings uses humorous exaggeration to criticize human egoism and conditional love. The line implies that much human attachment is transactional—shaped by pride, benefit, or reciprocity—whereas a dog’s devotion appears steadfast even when inconvenient or unrewarded. Its enduring popularity comes from this double effect: it flatters dog owners while also offering a gentle moral rebuke about how uncommon genuine, self-forgetting love can be.