quotations about cats
Cats have a consuming passion for watching human beings.
AKIF PIRINCCI
Cat Sense
In the dictionary of Cat, mercy is missing.
JANE HIRSHFIELD
"A Small-Sized Mystery"
One cat just leads to another.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
attributed, The Quintessential Cat
Cats specialize in sneaky. Unpleasant creatures who think they own the world.
EMILY CARMICHAEL
Diamond in the Ruff
When I play with my cat, who knows whether she is not amusing herself with me more than I with her.
MONTAIGNE
Essays
Never try to outstubborn a cat.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The Cat Who Walks Through Walls
Cats are like oysters, in that no one is neutral about them; everyone is, explicitly or implicitly, friendly or hostile to them. And they are like children in their power of discovering, by a rapid and sure instinct, who likes them and who does not. It is difficult to win their affection; and it is easy to forfeit what is hard to win. But when given, their love, although less demonstrative, is more delicate and beautiful than that of a dog.
CANON LIDDON
The Spectator, Jan. 17, 1885
Leave a door open long enough,
a cat will enter.
Leave food, it will stay.
JANE HIRSHFIELD
"A Small-Sized Mystery"
If the cat waits for long hours, silent beside the crack of the wainscot, it is for pure pleasure. Cats do not keep the mice away; it is my belief that they preserve them for the chase.
OSWALD BARRON
Day In and Day Out
Cats are like gods--they accept our blandishments, but don't reciprocate.
MAURICE BARRÈS
attributed, Another Beauty
I have lived with several Zen masters -- all of them cats.
ECKHART TOLLE
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Cats are like shoes--you need them in a lot of colors.
MARI SKELLY
Alternative Treatments for Fibromyalgia
Cats are like potato chips--it's hard to have just one.
SANDRA CHARON
Planet Cat
The kitten has a luxurious, Bohemian, unpuritanical nature. It eats six meals a day, plays furiously with a toy mouse and a piece of rope, and suddenly falls into a deep sleep whenever the fit takes it. It never feels the necessity to do anything to justify its existence; it does not want to be a Good Citizen; it has never heard of Service. It knows that it is beautiful and delightful, and it considers that a sufficient contribution to the general good. And in return for its beauty and charm it expects fish, meat, and vegetables, a comfortable bed, a chair by the grate fire, and endless petting.
ROBERTSON DAVIES
The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks
Cats accept the improvements that we make in their lives but they do not accept that we should have any control over them. People can give safety, sustenance, and comfort to a cat, but both sides know she could walk out tomorrow and find her own way if it came to that. The underlying independence that keeps a balance of power between people and their cats is the source of our fascination with our feline family members. But it's really helpful to keep in mind that you need to accept your cat as she is--and for who she is.
TRACIE HOTCHNER
The Cat Bible
Cats are like women--we may fart, but it's quiet, polite, dignified, and never in public.
JUSTINE LEE
It's a Cat's World ... You Just Live in It
Cats are ... an oxymoron. Soft, but have claws.
O. B. WRIGHT
Whiskey Oscar Seven Bravo
Cats are narcissistic. Their needs come before ours. They don't understand the word "No." They carry themselves with that aloof, arrogant sense of perpetual entitlement, they will jump up and insinuate themselves wherever they please--on your lap, on your newspaper, on your computer keyboard--and they really couldn't care less how their behavior affects the people in their lives. I've had boyfriends like this; who needs such behavior in a housepet?
CAROLINE KNAPP
The Merry Recluse
Perhaps God made cats so that man might have the pleasure of fondling the tiger.
ROBERTSON DAVIES
The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks