“I never had a cat again. I still like cats, though I decided atthe time that that poor little cat who climbed the tree and neverreturned would be my first and last cat. I couldn’t forget thatlittle cat and start loving another.”

“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.”

“What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching for the other half of your shadow.”

“I don’t know why I’m so crazy about cats. I like how they are soft and warm, and individualistic, kind of like me.”

“Well, look at it another way: why shouldn’t there be cats in a zoo?" I said."They’re animals, too, right?""Cats and dogs are your run-of-the-mill-type animals. Nobody’s going to pay money to see them," he said. "Just look around you-they’re everywhere. Same thing with people.”

“An old cat is a good friend to talk to.”

“Your problem is that your shadow is a bit - how should I put it? Faint. I thought this the first time I laid eyes on you, that the shadow you cast on the ground is only half as dark as that of ordinary people… What I think is this: You should give up looking for lost cats and start searching for the other half of your shadow”