A cat may looke on a King.
John Heywood (1497?-1580?) English playwright and epigrammist
Proverbs, Part 2, ch. 5 (1546)
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Revised spelling from the 1874 edition. Original editions had it, "A cat maie looke on a kyng." This is the earliest text found with this recorded as an English proverb.
Thomas Fuller included the phrase ("A Cat may look upon a King") in his Gnomologia, # 35 (1732).
For more information on this phrase and its history, see: meaning and origin of the phrase ‘a cat may look at a king’ – word histories.
Quotations about:
gaze
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
I turn away reluctant from your light,
And stand irresolute, a mind undone,
A silly, dazzled thing deprived of sight
From having looked too long upon the sun.Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
“When I too long have looked upon your face,” ll. 5-8, Second April, Sonnet 7 (1921)
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