Cat Quotes, Poems
And Other Feline Words

Select cat quotes, sayings, and references to felines in literature, including proverbs and sayings from around the world. As cat lovers know, the feline has been used in literary art countless times, such as poems, fables, myths and legends.

Quotes

"A pox upon him!"

Many sayings, expressions, and quotes used today in modern conversation come from the works of William Shakespeare. Some of the phrases or sayings originate much earlier, but it's often Shakespeare's version that we quote.

According to the book, For the Love of Cats,, Shakespeare referenced cats over 40 times in his many pieces of literature, but none of them were in a positive light.

That may not be entirely true, however, as a reader of the New York Times pointed out as far back as 1901 that Shylock did mention the "harmless necessary cat" in the Merchant of Venice. One could argue that even that quote is negative, though. Shakespeare is a complex beast.

"I could endure anything but a cat. And now he's a cat to me... A pox upon him! For he is more and more a cat."
-William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

"Who will bell the cat?"
-William Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman

I've looked at several online versions of William Langland's work, which is alternatively called The Vision Concerning Piers the Plowman among other variations. I can't find one that shows the exact text "who will bell the cat?" which comes from Bartlett's 17th edition:

Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature (17th Edition)

Mark Twain at the lab of Nikola Tesla, a fellow cat lover. Twain is attributed with a number of famous cat quotes.

It's attributed to Aesop, and also referred to as "The Mice, the Bell, and the Cat" or simply "Belling the Cat."

In Bartlett's, the quotation is "Who shall bell the cat?" and the fable is "The Rat and the Cat" so take your pick.

The fable is also often summarized under the title of "The Mice in Council."

In Langland's piece, he's retelling the story his own way.

The story involves a community of mice who are trying to figure out how to protect themselves from their enemy, the cat.

It's suggested that they should place a bell on the cat's neck, which seems like a good idea.

One mouse, however, wants to know who will actually perform the dangerous and difficult task of placing the bell on the cat.

In other words, the task was "easier said than done!"

"In ancient times, cats were worshiped as gods; they have never forgotten this."
-Unknown

If you like the above quote, you might enjoy more cat quotes that I've compiled, including these famous quotes and these funny quotes that I just put together.

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Proverbs

There are many proverbs about cats from all over the globe. Some make good cat quotes that are worth repeating.

"When the mouse laughs at the cat, there's a hole nearby."
-Nigerian proverb

"You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats."
-Colonial proverb

"Happy owner, happy cat. Indifferent owner, reclusive cat."
-Chinese Proverb

"I gave an order to a cat, and the cat gave it to its tail."
-Chinese proverb

"The cat who frightens mice away is as good as the cat who eats them."
-German proverb

"A cat may go to a monastery, but she still remains a cat."
-Ethiopian proverb

"In a cat's eye, all things belong to cats."
-English proverb

Myths And Legends

Myths and legends about felines are, well, legendary! There are tons of them.

There's a Polish legend about a group of kittens who were happily chasing butterflies along the banks of a river when they fell into the water. When the mother cat saw what had happened to her kittens, she started crying.

Hearing her cries, the willow trees along the edge of the river dipped their branches into the water, allowing the kittens to grab on to the branches, and pull themselves out of the river to safety.

In honor of the kittens, the willows sprout little buds of fur on their branches each spring.

You can read more on myths about cats and get more information about that most mythical of felines, black cats.

Cat Folk Sayings

Sayings about cats roll off the tongue, often even for non-cat lovers. Many of us don't know their origins, or when they became common usage, and some are regional in nature.

"When the cat's away, the mice will play."

"Honest as the cat when the meat's out of reach."

"The cat that swallowed the canary" or "the cat that ate the canary" is a common saying, referring to someone who is very satisfied (usually with him or herself). It's often used to describe someone who has done something forbidden or sneaky.

"The cat is mighty dignified until the dog comes by."

Cat Poems

Felines of all variety have inspired poetry and prose for many years. Start with this description of a cat's love of milk, appropriately called "Milk for the Cat" by Harold Monro.

You can move on to this collection of cat poems, including nursery rhymes, like this one:

There Was a Crooked Man

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.

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