SITUATIONAL INTIMACY: Intimacy generated by a shared situation rather than a romantic or familial relationship, as when random train or airliner seatmates share their innermost secrets.

NOCEBO: Latin for “I will harm”; a negative placebo; physical manifestation of pessimism; self-fulfilling prophecy of disbelief. In the nocebo effect, a bad result occurs without any physiological bias. In one study, women who believed they were more prone to heart disease were four times more likely to die of it than women with the same risk factors but without a pessimistic outlook.

BYSTANDER EFFECT: Phenomenon documented by social scientists in which people are less likely to help someone in distress when there are others present who can render assistance.

HOLLOW-TOOTH SYNDROME: Compulsion to torture oneself mentally, based on the fact that nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

Both humans and dogs love to play well into adulthood, and individuals from both species occasionally display evidence of having a conscience.

I see therapy as a substitute for friendship. I see it as a commentary on the impersonality of society that people have to pay someone to tell them their troubles.

To a dog, motoring isn’t just a way of getting from here to there, it’s also a thrill and an adventure. The mere jingle of car keys is enough to send most any dog into a whimpering, tail-wagging frenzy.

In 1910, eighty-two-year-old Leo Tolstoy flees from his wife and dies in a railway station of exposure.

AMBIENT FEAR: background anxiety of everyday life.

They give unconditional love and undying loyalty in return for regular meals and an occasional pat on the head.