Quotessence
Home / Authors / T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot Quotes

Playwright

Filter quotes by topic

AllQuartetsMenKnowsEndsIfsPoetThinkingLifeWorldPeoplePoetryWayShouldWaste LandArtLostStillsCatHumansInspirational

Famous T. S. Eliot Quotes

“The name that no human research can discover-- But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name.”

KnowsMindHumansReasonNamesMeditationResearchCatProfoundContemplationEngagedIneffableInscrutable
Author:T. S. Eliot
Create image

“The Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat: If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse. If you put him in a house he would much prefer a flat, If you put him in a flat then he'd rather have a house. If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat, If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse. Yes the Rum Tum Tugger is a Curious Cat - And there isn't any call for me to shout it: For he will do As he do do And there's no doing anything about it!”

IfsWantHouseOffersCatCuriousFlatsMiceRatsRumPheasants
Book:Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats: with illustrations by Rebecca Ashdown
Create image

“With Cats, some say, one rule is true: Don’t speak till you are spoken to. Myself, I do not hold with that — I say, you should ad-dress a Cat. But always keep in mind that he Resents familiarity. I bow, and taking off my hat, Ad-dress him in this form: O Cat! But if he is the Cat next door, Whom I have often met before (He comes to see me in my flat) I greet him with an oopsa Cat! I think I've heard them call him James — But we've not got so far as names.”

IfsThinkingShouldMindFormNextNamesSpeakDoorsHeardMetsCatDressesHatsFlatsAdsBowsFamiliarityResent
Book:The Poems of T. S. Eliot Volume II: Practical Cats and Further Verses
Create image

“Before a Cat will condescend To treat you as a trusted friend, Some little token of esteem Is needed, like a dish of cream; And you might now and then supply Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie, Some potted grouse, or salmon paste — He's sure to have his personal taste. (I know a Cat, who makes a habit Of eating nothing else but rabbit, And when he's finished, licks his paws So's not to waste the onion sauce.) A Cat's entitled to expect These evidences of respect. And so in time you reach your aim, And finally call him by his name.”

KnowsLittlesMightNamesNeededHabitTasteWasteEatingEvidenceCatTreatsAimFinishedEsteemNow And ThenTrustedDishesCreamPieEntitledRabbitsSauceOnionsTokensPawsSalmonPersonal TasteTrusted Friends
Book:The Complete Poems and Plays of T. S. Eliot
Create image