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A feline masterpiece
“The smallest feline is a masterpiece.” —Leonardo da Vinci, artist and polymath
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Cats as gods
“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.” —Terry Pratchett, author
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A gift of love
“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” —Charles Dickens, author
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A cat’s choice
“Cats choose us; we don’t own them.” —Kristin Cast, editor
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Honesty is the best policy
“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.” —Ernest Hemingway, author
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The wisdom of cats
“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” —Hippolyte Taine, French critic and historian
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A blessed home
“With the qualities of cleanliness, affection, patience, dignity, and courage that cats have, how many of us, I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?” —Fernand Mery, author
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A visible soul
“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.” —Jean Cocteau, French poet
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The unaffected cat
“Cats, as you know, are quite impervious to threats.” —Connie Willis, writer
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The practical cat
“Like all pure creatures, cats are practical.” —William S. Burroughs, writer
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A cat’s limitations
“Cats are only human; they have their faults.” —Kingsley Amis, novelist
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A lesson learned
“A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.” —Mark Twain, author
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The great mystery of cats
“Cats are a mysterious kind of folk.” —Sir Walter Scott, novelist and historian
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The Zen cat
“I have lived with several Zen masters—all of them cats.” —Eckhart Tolle, German educator
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The love of a cat
“A cat doesn’t care if you are smart or dumb. Give him your heart, and he will give you his.” —Abraham Lincoln
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A hungry cat
“When Rome burned, the emperor’s cats still expected to be fed on time.” —Seanan McGuire, author
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Cats and music
“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” —Albert Schweitzer, polymath
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A heartwarming welcome
“There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat.” —Tay Hohoff, author and editor
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The kitty conundrum
“A cat is a puzzle for which there is no solution.” —Hazel Nicholson, author
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Cats and the people who love them
“People who love cats have some of the biggest hearts around.” —Susan Easterly, pet writer
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Kitty benefits
“A cat a day keeps the doctor away.” —Syou Ishida, author
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The key to comfort
“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.” —James Herriot, British veterinary surgeon and writer
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A cat’s prerogative
“If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.” —Nan Porter, author
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A friendship of equals
“A cat will be your friend, but never your slave.” —Théophile Gautier, French poet
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Nobody owns a cat
“As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.” —Ellen Perry Berkeley, journalist
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite quotes for over 100 years. The sayings and quips that appear in the magazine’s “Quotable Quotes” (formerly “Remarkable Remarks”) are curated from interviews and essays originally published in the magazine, reprints from trusted titles and other verified sources. For this piece on cat quotes, including funny cat sayings and famous cat phrases, Madeline Wahl tapped her experience as a journalist to ensure that all information is accurate. We’ve gone the extra step and had Christine Coppa, a fact-checker with 20-plus years of experience, including serving as a staff research editor at Philadelphia magazine and Essence, verify that all quotes are attributed correctly and have credible sourcing. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
