You get a wife, you get a house,
Eventually you get a mouse.
You get some words regarding mice,
You get a kitty in a trice.
By two a.m. or thereabouts,
The mouse is in, the cat is out.
It dawns upon you, in your cot,
The mouse is silent, the cat is not.
Instead of kitty, says your spouse,
You should have got another mouse.
– Ogden Nash
“What’s terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don’t need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better.”
— Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook
Scholar Chang Tuan was fond of cats,
And had seven of them,
Wonderful beasts with wonderful names.
They were:
Guardian of the East
White Phoenix
Purple Blossom
Drive-Away-Vexation
Brocade Sash
Cloud Pattern
Ten Thousand Strings of Cash
Each was worth several pieces of gold,
And nothing could persuade Chang
To part with them.
— Wang Chih (c. 1100 C.E.)
“Kindness is like snow –
— Kahlil Gibran
it beautifies everything it covers.”
Terry Pratchett
All’s Well That Ends Well
