WIST Quotations

Greenwood, Kerry -- Phryne Fisher, Book 11, Away with the Fairies, ch. 1 (2001)

Dave — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:48:45 +0000

She felt that the day should not be bounced in on with rude energy, but carefully and delicately seduced into being, and children and animals were sadly impervious to reason on this matter.

Kerry Greenwood (b. 1954) Australian author and lawyer
Phryne Fisher, Book 11, Away with the Fairies, ch. 1 (2001)
(Source)

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 1 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:26:52 +0000

We lavish on animals the love we are afraid to show to people. People might not return it; or worse, they might.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 1 (1963)
(Source)

Greenburg, Dan -- In Bill Hayward, Cat People (1978)

Dave — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:53:32 +0000

There is, incidentally, no way of talking about cats that enables one to come off as a sane person.

Dan Greenburg (1936–2023) American writer, humorist, journalist
In Bill Hayward, Cat People (1978)
(Source)

Whitehead, Alfred North -- In Lucien Price, ed., Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogue 25, 1941-12-10 (1954)

Dave — Wed, 13 Dec 2023 18:49:40 +0000

If a dog jumps in your lap, it is because he is fond of you. If a cat does the same thing, it is because your lap is warmer.

Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) English mathematician and philosopher
In Lucien Price, ed., Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead, Dialogue 25, 1941-12-10 (1954)
(Source)

Roberts, Lillian M -- Riding for a Fall (1996)

Dave — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 02:02:42 +0000

Animals are a compromise between being alone and being with people.

Lillian M. Roberts (contemp.) American author, veterinarian
Riding for a Fall (1996)

Eliot, George -- “Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story,” ch. 7, Scenes of Clerical Life (1857)

Dave — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 00:47:09 +0000

Animals are such agreeable friends — they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.

George Eliot (1819–1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
“Mr. Gilfil’s Love Story,” ch. 7, Scenes of Clerical Life (1857)
(Source)

Heinlein, Robert A. -- Friday [Friday Jones] (1982)

Dave — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 13:51:10 +0000

The coldest depth of Hell is reserved for people who abandon kittens.

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American writer
Friday [Friday Jones] (1982)

Lincoln, Abraham -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I care not for a man’s religion whose dog or cat are not the better for it.

Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861–65)
(Attributed)

Frequently attributed to Lincoln without citation, it's actually a variant of "I would give nothing for that man's religion, whose very dog and cat are not the better for it," by Rowland Hill (1744-1833), an English preacher, attributed in George Seaton Bowes, Illustrative Gatherings, or, Preachers and Teachers (1860). Lincoln may have used the line.