68 Quotes About Cats

Cats have long been considered enigmatic companions, captivating humans with their grace, independence, and mystery. Whether they are slyly observing us from the windowsill or playfully swatting at a sunbeam, cats evoke a wide range of emotions that inspire writers, thinkers, and cat enthusiasts alike. In this collection of 68 quotes about cats, you'll find words that celebrate the wit, wisdom, and whimsical nature of these fascinating creatures. From lighthearted humor to deeper reflections on life and companionship, these quotes offer something for every cat lover to savor. So, settle in and let the words whisker you away into the charming world of feline fascination.

1. “Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose.” - Garrison Keillor

2. “Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal... In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately.Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen. Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away for two whole days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones and flesh--not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court.” - Mark Twain

3. “The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” - Leonardo da Vinci

4. “Meow” means “woof” in cat.” - George Carlin

5. “The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.” - Paula Poundstone

6. “Curiosity killed the cat,” Fesgao remarked, his dark eyes unreadable.Aly rolled her eyes. Why did everyone say that to her? “People always forget the rest of the saying,” she complained. “‘And satisfaction brought it back.” - Tamora Pierce

7. “Lecturing Brooks was as useful as lecturing a cat.” - Maureen Johnson

8. “Let us be honest: most of us rather like our cats to have a streak of wickedness. I should not feel quite easy in the company of any cat that walked around the house with a saintly expression.” - Beverley Nichols

9. “No matter how much the cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens. ” - Abraham Lincoln

10. “Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.” - Robertson Davies

11. “I’m a cat. We aren’t required to make sense.” - Seanan McGuire

12. “Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.” - Suzanne Collins

13. “Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names.” - Neil Gaiman

14. “Cats have gnosis to a degree that is granted to few bishops.” - Carl Van Vechten

15. “Holding this soft, small living creature in my lap this way, though, and seeing how it slept with complete trust in me, I felt a warm rush in my chest. I put my hand on the cat's chest and felt his heart beating. The pulse was faint and fast, but his heart, like mine, was ticking off the time allotted to his small body with all the restless earnestness of my own.” - Haruki Murakami

16. “The cat Horus shot out from under the table and headed for the door, his ears flattened and his tail straight out. There he encountered Abdullah, who had been waiting for us on the verandah and who had, I supposed, been alarmed by Emerson's shouts and hurried to discover what disaster had prompted them. The cat got entangled in Abdullah's skirts and a brief interval of staggering (by Abdullah), scratching (by Horus) and swearing (by both parties) ensued before Horus freed himself and departed. ” - Elizabeth Peters

17. “(about cats) They also resist our calls to come, to move, to obey, to present themselves, to do all the things that dogs do so easily. This drives some people crazy. Cats do not even care what drives us crazy!” - Jeffery Masson

18. “Cats were not, in her experience, an animal with much soul. Prosaic, practical little creatures as a general rule. It would suit her very well to be thought catlike.” - Gail Carriger

19. “Like all pure creatures, cats are practical.” - William S. Burroughs

20. “In the silence I heard Bastet, who had retreated under the bed, carrying on a mumbling, profane monologue. (If you ask how I knew it was profane, I presume you have never owned a cat.)” - Elizabeth Peters

21. “Dogs are not like cats, who amusingly tolerate humans only until someone comes up with a tin opener that can be operated with a paw. Men made dogs, they took wolves and gave them human things--unnecessary intelligence, names, a desire to belong, and a twitching inferiority complex. All dogs dream wolf dreams, and know they're dreaming of biting their Maker. Every dog knows, deep in his heart, that he is a Bad Dog...” - Terry Pratchett

22. “Quote is taken from Chapter 1:A decade ago when Isabel’s husband Max had died, they’d moved in together and merged their possessions. Neither sister brought any fussy teapots, canaries, sachets, or doilies, but lots of other stuff had to either stay or go. Looking at the lime green armchair gave Alma the willies. Her suggestion to slipcover it in a more subdued color had garnered Isabel’s frosty stare, and Alma had dropped the matter.” - Ed Lynskey

23. “Human beings are drawn to cats because they are all we are not — self-contained, elegant in everything they do, relaxed, assured, glad of company, yet still possessing secret lives.” - Pam Brown

24. “Cats are a mysterious kind of folk.” - Sir Walter Scott

25. “i wish i had 15-20 cats that would serve as a blanket, like if i moved they would adjust to my new position, that would be good” - Megan Boyle

26. “Nathanial can show me how to better control the change, but even so, you never have to worry about me turning into a cat again. Didn't you know, I'm allergic to cats.” - Jeaniene Frost

27. “Rousseau pounced. Men who dislike cats were tyrannical: "They do not like cats because the cat is free and will never consent to become a slave.” - Robert Zaretsky

28. “A black cat crossed my path, and I stopped to dance around it widdershins and to sing the rhyme,Ou va-ti mistigri?Passe sans faire de mai ici.” - Joanne Harris

29. “Dogs have hair. Cats, fur.Dogs whine, yip, howl, bark. Cats purrr.I say: No contest.” - Lee Wardlaw

30. “Sorry about thesquishy in your shoe. Must'vebeen something I ate.” - Lee Wardlaw

31. “Walter had never liked cats. They'd seemed to him the sociopaths of the pet world, a species domesticated as an evil necessary for the control of rodents and subsequently fetishized the way unhappy countries fetishize their militaries, saluting the uniforms of killers as cat owners stroke their animals' lovely fur and forgive their claws and fangs. He'd never seen anything in a cat's face but simpering incuriosity and self-interest; you only had to tease one with a mouse-toy to see where it's true heart lay...cats were all about using people” - Jonathan Franzen

32. “Fucking nightmares.My heart starts to slow down. Glancing down at the floor, I see Tybalt, who is glaring at me with a puffed-up tail. I wonder if he had been sleeping on my chest and I catapulted him off when I woke up. I don't remember, but I wish that I did, because it would've been hilarious.” - Kendare Blake

33. “Their [cats] effortless passing between the wild and domestic worlds suggests the kind of grace we need as a species to move between nature and culture.” - Richard Mabey

34. “Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones — In fact, he's remarkably fat.He doesn't haunt pubs — he has eight or nine clubs,For he's the St. James's Street Cat!He's the Cat we all greet as he walks down the streetIn his coat of fastidious black:No commonplace mousers have such well-cut trousersOr such an impeccable back.In the whole of St. James's the smartest of names isThe name of this Brummell of Cats;And we're all of us proud to be nodded or bowed toBy Bustopher Jones in white spats!” - T.S. Eliot

35. “In Egypt: Under no conditions, under threat of death could anyone kill a cat. People were exceuted for even killing a cat accidentally. And when a cat died, the whole family, and probably their closest friends, went into mourning, the measure of their personal loss signalled by their shaving off their eyebrows.” - Roger A. Caras

36. “Sometimes I like her calm, unwild, gentle as a sleeping child,and wonder as she lies, a fur ring,curled upon my lap, unstirring -- is it me or Tibbles purring?” - Ian Serraillier

37. “I have found it is surprisingly difficult to remain sad when a cat is doing its level best to sandpaper one's cheeks.” - R. L. LaFevers

38. “Evidence indicates that cats were first tamed in Egypt. The Egyptians stored grain, which attracted rodents, which attracted cats. (No evidence that such a thing happened with the Mayans, though a number of wild cats are native to the area.) I don't think this is accurate. It is certainly not the whole story. 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

39. “And there are my cats, engaged in a ritual that goes back thousands of years, tranquilly licking themselves after the meal. Practical animals, they prefer to have others provide the food ... some of them do. There must have been a split between the cats who accepted domestication and those who did not.” - William S. Burroughs

40. “The cat does not offer services. The cat offers itself.” - William S. Burroughs

41. “The Prologue to TERRITORY LOST"Of cats' first disobedience, and the heightOf that forbidden tree whose doom'd ascentBrought man into the world to help us downAnd made us subject to his moods and whims,For though we may have knock'd an apple looseAs we were carried safely to the ground,We never said to eat th'accursed thing,But yet with him were exiled from our placeWith loss of hosts of sweet celestial miceAnd toothsome baby birds of paradise,And so were sent to stray across the earthAnd suffer dogs, until some greater CatRestore us, and regain the blissful yard,Sing, heavenly Mews, that on the ancient banksOf Egypt's sacred river didst inspireThat pharaoh who first taught the sons of menTo worship members of our feline breed:Instruct me in th'unfolding of my tale;Make fast my grasp upon my theme's dark threadsThat undistracted save by naps and snacksI may o'ercome our native reticenceAnd justify the ways of cats to men.” - Henry N. Beard

42. “Abyssinias"I met a traveler from an antique landWho said: A huge four-footed limestone formSits in the desert, sinking in the sand.Its whiskered face, though marred by wind and storm,Still flaunts the dainty ears, the collar bandAnd feline traits the sculptor well portrayed:The bearing of a born aristocrat,The stubborn will no mortal can dissuade.And on its base, in long-dead alphabets,These words are set: "Reward for missing cat!His name is Abyssinias, pet of pets;I, Ozymandias, will a fortune payFor his return. he heard me speak of vets --O foolish King! And so he ran away.” - Henry N. Beard

43. “I situate myself, and seat myself,And where you recline I shall recline,For every armchair belonging to you as good as belongs to me.I loaf and curl up my tailI yawn and loaf at my ease after rolling in the catnip patch."(From Meow of Myself, from LEAVES OF CATNIP)” - Henry N. Beard

44. “Behold the day-break!I awaken you by sitting on your chest and purring in your face,I stir you with muscular paw-prods, I rouse you with toe-bites,Walt, you have slept enough, why don't you get up?"(From Meow of Myself, from LEAVES OF CATNIP)” - Henry N. Beard

45. “The noisy jay swoops by and reviles me, he complains of my meow and my malingering.I too am not a bit subdued, I too am uncontrollable,I sound my splenetic yowl over the roof of the house."(From Meow of Myself, from LEAVES OF CATNIP)” - Henry N. Beard

46. “Mealtime"A mousie squealing in a trapWoke me from my morning nap.Wasn't he so very sweetTo tell me it was time to eat?"(From A CAT'S GARDEN OF VERSES)” - Henry N. Beard

47. “From CATS ARE KIND"A man said to the universe,'Sir, I exist!''Excellent,' replied the universe,'I've been looking for someone to take care of my cats.” - Henry N. Beard

48. “Let us roam then, you and I,When the evening is splayed out across the sky[...]Paths that follow like a nagging accusationOf a minor violationTo lead you to the ultimate reproof ...Oh, do not say, 'Bad kitty!'Let us go and prowl the city.In the rooms the cats run to and froAuditioning for a Broadway show."(From The Love Song of J. Morris Housecat)” - Henry N. Beard

49. “And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, 'Do I shed?' and, 'Do I shed?'Time to turn back and stretch out on the bed,And give myself a bath before I'm fed --(They will say: 'It's the short-haired ones I prefer.')My flea collar buckled neatly in my fur,My expression cool and distant but softened by a gentle purr --(They will say: 'I'm allergic to his fur!')Do I dareJump up on the table?In an instant there is timeFor excursions and inversions that will make me seem unstable."(From The Love Song of J. Morris Housecat)” - Henry N. Beard

50. “Cats were often familiars to workers of magic because to anyone used to wrestling with self-willed, wayward, devious magic—which was what all magic was—it was rather soothing to have all the same qualities wrapped up in a small, furry, generally attractive bundle that looked more or less the same from day to day and might, if it were in a good mood, sit on your knee and purr. Magic never sat on anybody’s knee and purred.” - Robin McKinley

51. “I hope people don't take kittens on a whim, like they would a toy, then not care for them.” - Shirley Rousseau Murphy

52. “You know what I should do?" Hoshino asked excited. "Of course," the cat said. "What'd I tell you? Cats know everything. Not like dogs.” - Haruki Murakami

53. “The white cat Sal-al was lying on the straw matting in the empty conservatory. She looked at us with a wicked, conceited expression as if all her appetites had just been satisfied. She was beautiful. Vesta and I both said, "I wish I were a cat!" Before we got to the last word we smiled at each other in annoyance, not liking the idea that most human beings think very much alike.” - Denton Welch

54. “The Chairman likes you.”“Is that good?”“I never date anyone my cat doesn’t like,” Magnus said easily, and stood up.” - Cassandra Clare

55. “Down through this verdant land Carter walked at evening, and saw twilight float up from the river to the marvelous golden spires of Thran. And just at the hour of dusk he came to the southern gate, and was stopped by a red-robed sentry till he had told three dreams beyond belief, and proved himself a dreamer worthy to walk up Thran's steep mysterious streets and linger in the bazaars where the wares of the ornate galleons were sold. Then into that incredible city he walked; through a wall so thick that the gate was a tunnel, and thereafter amidst curved and undulant ways winding deep and narrow between the heavenward towers. Lights shone through grated and balconied windows, and, the sound of lutes and pipes stole timid from inner courts where marble fountains bubbled. Carter knew his way, and edged down through darker streets to the river, where at an old sea tavern he found the captains and seamen he had known in myriad other dreams. There he bought his passage to Celephais on a great green galleon, and there he stopped for the night after speaking gravely to the venerable cat of that inn, who blinked dozing before an enormous hearth and dreamed of old wars and forgotten gods.” - H.P. Lovecraft

56. “One day I was counting the cats and I absent-mindedly counted myself.” - Bobbie Ann Mason

57. “Is that vodka?" Margarita asked weakly.The cat jumped up in his seat with indignation."I beg pardon, my queen," he rasped, "Would I ever allow myself to offer vodka to a lady? This is pure alcohol!” - Mikhail Bulgakov

58. “Not fooling around, not bothering nobody, just sitting here mending the Primus," said the cat with a hostile frown, "and, moreover, I consider it my duty to warn you that the cat is an ancient, inviolable animal.” - Mikhail Bulgakov

59. “Me dan miedo los gatos blancos porque son igual de malos que los gatos negros, pero no hay manera de mirarlos y que no te apetezca acariciarlos.” - Chus Fernandez

60. “Oh, Hank," Susan whispered, "their wings are furry.""Oh, James," Harriet whispered, "their hands are kind.” - Ursula K. Le Guin

61. “It's 8a.m. and time to restIt's 10a.m. and time to relaxIt's noon and time for reposeIt's 3p.m. and time for shut-eyeIt's 6p.m. and time for siestaIt's 9p.m. and time to slumberIt's midnight and time to snoozeIt's 4a.m. and time to hang upside down from your bedroom ceiling, screaming.” - Francesco Marciuliano

62. “I was drawn to his aloofness, the way cats gravitate toward people who’d rather avoid them.” - Rachel Hartman

63. “Kind old ladies assure us that cats are often the best judges of character. A cat will always go to a good man, they say[.]” - Virginia Woolf

64. “Dotyk łapki leczy lepiej niż aspiryna.” - Helen Brown

65. “For he will doAs he do doAnd there's no doing anything about it!- The Rum Tum Tugger” - T.S. Eliot

66. “I have lived with several Zen masters -- all of them cats.” - Eckhart Tolle

67. “My cat brought me a toy. I thanked her and threw it. She sat there gave me a look that made me realize people and dogs are the crazy ones.” - Dan Harmon

68. “You know how cats do. They hide to die. Dogs come home.” - Thomas Harris