W B Yeats - Robert Heinlein - Michel de Montaigne - Red Dwarf TV - Star Trek: The Next Generation TV - T S Eliot – Proverbs - Albert Schweitzer - Mark Twain - George Galloway - Groucho Marx - Christine Floyd - Deng Xiaoping - Geoffrey Chaucer - Edward Lear - Vita Sackville-West - Stevie Smith - Tweety - Car Lewis - Stray Cats - Tom Jones - Songs for the Nursery 1805 - Anonymous - Helen Powers - Horizon TV - Arthur C Clarke TV - David Attenborough TV - Jaguars: Brazil’s Super Cats TV - Terry Pratchett - Christopher Hitchens - Charles Dickens - Ernest Hemingway - Grumpy Cat 2014 - The Office US TV - Winston Churchill - Richard Dawkins - The Story of Cats TV - Monty Python’s Flying Circus TV - Jaguars: Born Free: Natural World TV - Mountain: Life at the Extreme TV - Big Cats TV - Trailer Park Boys 2001-2018 - MonsterQuest TV -
The cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood. W B Yeats, The Cat and the Moon
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. Robert Heinlein
In nine lifetimes, you’ll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you. Michel de Montaigne
During the radioactive crisis, Dave, your cat and her kittens were safely sealed in the hold; they’ve been safely breeding there for three million years and evolved into the life-form you’ve just seen in the corridor. Red Dwarf s1e1: The End, Holly, BBC 1988
Never ask a cat to share because a scratch to the face often offends. Red Dwarf X s10e2: Fathers and Suns, Cat
Spot, down. Star Trek: The Next Generation s7e9: Force of Nature, Data teaches cat
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. T S Eliot, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
He always had an alibi, and one or two to spare:
At whatever time the deed took place – MACAVITY WASN’T THERE! ibid.
When the cat’s away, the mice will play. Early 17th century proverb
The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats. Albert Schweitzer
If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much. Mark Twain
Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat. Mark Twain
Meow. George Galloway in jumpsuit and crawling before Rula Lenska, Celebrity Big Brother UK
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere. Groucho Marx
I am a cat
And that is that. Christine Floyd, Ode to Cat c.2000
It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice. Deng Xiaoping
Lat take a cat, and fostre hym wel with milk
And tendre flessh, and make his couche of silk
And lay hym seen a mous go by the wal,
Anon he weyveth milk and flesh and al,
and every deyntee that is in the hous,
Swich appetit hath he to ete a mouse. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
Old Foss is the name of his cat:
His body is perfectly spherical,
He weareth a runcible hat. Edward Lear, Nonsense Songs
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat.
They took some honey, and planet of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the Stars above
And sang to a small guitar,
‘Oh lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are.’ Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussy Cat, 1871
The greater cats with golden eyes
Stare out between the bars.
Deserts are there, and different skies,
And night with different stars. Vita Sackville-West, The King’s Daughter, 1929
Oh I am a cat that likes to
Gallop about doing good. Stevie Smith, The Galloping Cat, 1972
I t’ought I saw a pussycat. Tweety
Always give generously. A small bird or rodent left on the bed tells them I care. Cat Laws
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh,
Black and orange stray cat sittin’ on a fence
Ain’t got enough dough to pay the rent
I’m flat broke but I don’t care
I strut right by with my tail in the air.
Stray cat strut, I’m a ladies’ cat,
A feline Casanova, hey man, that’s where it’s at
Get a shoe thrown at me from a mean old man
Get my dinner from a garbage can.
Yeah don’t cross my path –
I don’t bother chasing mice around
I slink down the alley looking for a fight
Howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night
Singin’ the blues while the lady cats cry,
Wild stray cat, you’re a real gone guy.
I wish I could be as carefree and wild,
But I got cat class and I got cat style. Stray Cats, Stray Cat Strut
Many people said that there cats or dog seemed to know in advance when there was going to be air-raids. Dr Rupert Sheldrake, animal behaviour specialist
I don’t think that knowing when people are going to come home is a premonition, I think it’s more like telepathy. Samson behaves as if he knows they are going to come home and waits by the door. We don’t really know how sensitive animals are to certain things. Dr Rupert Sheldrake
What’s new, pussycat? Tom Jones
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?
I’ve been to London to look at the queen. Songs for the Nursery 1805
I love little pussy,
Her coat is so warm,
And if I don’t hurt her
She’ll do me no harm. Anonymous, Little Pussy, Hints for the Formation of Infant Schools, 1829
Dogs have owners. Cats have staff. Author unknown
Your cat will never threaten your popularity by barking at three in the morning. He won’t attack the mailman or eat the drapes, although he may climb the drapes to see how the room looks from the ceiling. Helen Powers
We may love our cats but how much do we really know them? Horizon: The Secret Life of the Cat, BBC 2013
It reveals how fifty cats live crowded together. ibid.
Our cats may be changing and that could be down to us. ibid.