If the pull of the outside world is strong, there is also a pull towards the human. The cat may disappear on its own errands, but sooner or later, it returns once again for a little while, to greet us with its own type of love.

Alexander contrasts a cat’s fierce independence with its recurring, voluntary return to human companionship. The “pull of the outside world” evokes the animal’s instinctual life—wandering, hunting, self-directed movement—while the “pull towards the human” suggests an equally real, if quieter, need for connection. The line resists sentimentalizing cats as obedient or dependent; instead it frames their affection as chosen and therefore distinctive: a brief visit, a greeting, a presence offered on the cat’s terms. Implicitly, the quote also comments on relationships more broadly: love can coexist with autonomy, and attachment need not erase a creature’s separate inner life.