I gave an order to a cat and the cat gave the order to its tail.
— Chinese Proverb
Category: Animal Quotes
Mr. Breeze
Quote: Groucho Marx on Cats
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.
— Groucho Marx
Quote: Herodotus on Cats
When a cat died, a wise Egyptian tried to be someplace else so that he couldn’t be accused of murder.
— Herodotus
Quote: Christopher Hitchens on Cats
Owners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are God. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are God.
— Christopher Hitchens
Quote: Heinlein on Cats
There is no such thing as “Just a cat.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Quote: Joanna Lumley on Cats
My mother early on taught us to respect all animals, and I mean all animals – not just cats and dogs but rats and snakes and spiders and fish and wildlife, so I really grew up believing they are just like us and just as deserving of consideration.
— Joanna Lumley
Quote: Rebecca West on Cats
Did St. Francis preach to the birds? Whatever for? If he really liked birds he would have done better to preach to the cats.
— Rebecca West
Quote: Bob Mortimer on Cats
I can’t remember ever cooking food to impress a woman. The idea’s quite cheesy and sort of makes my skin crawl. But I sometimes make a special effort to impress my cats, with chicken liver or something. It’s tricky to know if a cat’s impressed. They might give me a little look, a glimpse at least. That’s cat ownership for you.
— Bob Mortimer
Quote: William S. Burroughs on Cats as Familiars
Cats didn’t start as mousers. Weasels and snakes and dogs are more efficient as rodent-control agents. I postulate that cats started as psychic companions, as Familiars, and have never deviated from this function.
—William S. Burroughs, “The Cat Inside“
Quote: Oleg Gazenko On Laika
Work with animals is a source of suffering to all of us. We treat them like babies who cannot speak. The more time passes, the more I’m sorry about it. We shouldn’t have done it. We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog.
— Russian scientist Oleg Gazenko, 1998, speaking about Laika, the first dog in space.
