From ancient times to the present, black cats have delivered a dose of enchantment and charm.
Sure, they’ve endured their fair share of superstitions, but guess what? They’ve also brought some good luck mojo in other folklore traditions!
These cool cats make for excellent conversation starters. Philosophers, writers, and pop culture icons have shared some remarkable insights about them over the years.
From eerie thrills to hearty laughs, there’s a quote to match every mood! Here are a couple of my personal favorites:
“A black cat passing by the crossroad can stop hundreds of people, what a red light on traffic signal has failed to do for a long time.” – Nitya Prakash, author
“A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.” – Groucho Marx
“A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there. A theologian is the man who finds it.” – H.L. Mencken
“Anyone who believes what a cat tells him deserves all he gets.” – Neil Gaiman
“Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.” – Missy Dizick
“Beware of the night, child. All cats are black in the dark.” – Jean Genet
“I believe cats to be spirits come to earth. A cat, I am sure, could walk on a cloud without coming through.” – Jules Verne
“His mother called such people ignorant and superstitious, but his father only shook his head slowly and puffed his pipe and said that sometimes old stories had a grain or two of truth in them and it was best not to take chances. It was why, he said, he crossed himself whenever a black cat crossed his path.” – Stephen King
“This latter was a remarkably large and beautiful animal, entirely black, and sagacious to an astonishing degree.” – Edgar Allan Poe
“Religion is like a blind man looking in a black room for a black cat that is not there, and finding it.” – Oscar Wilde
“Black cat, nine lives. Short days, long nights, Livin’ on the edge, not afraid to die.” – Janet Jackson
“The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.” – Confucius
“Get hence, you loathsome mystery! Hideous animal, get hence! You wake in me each bestial sense, you make me what I would not be.” – Oscar Wilde
“Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity, For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.” – T.S. Eliot
“Nothing is going to happen to you if you throw salt on the floor, stand under a ladder, or see eight black cats on the street.” – Penelope Cruz
“You ought to know Mr. Mistoffelees! The Original Conjuring Cat (There can be no doubt about that).” – T.S. Eliot
“A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place your sight can knock on, echoing; but here within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze will be absorbed and utterly disappear.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“I saw an injured black cat. God knows who has crossed her path.” – Ljupka Cvetanova
“When the tea is brought at five o’clock, and all the neat curtains are drawn with care, the little black cat with bright green eyes is suddenly purring there.” – Harold Monro
“When a black cat crosses your path, follow it. Understand the knowable unknown.” – Lionel Suggs
“In the pewter mornings, the cat, a black fur sausage with yellow Houdini eyes, jumps up on the bed and tries to get onto my head. It’s his way of telling whether or not I’m dead.” – Margaret Atwood
“Black cats are certainly bad omens for enemies and good luck for friends.” – GR Shankar
“Story collectors tend to be superstitious. Knock on wood, black cats, four-leaf clovers … that sort of thing. After all, superstitions are the little stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our chaotic world.” – K. O’Donnell Tubb
“Animals like crows and black cats are not ominous at all; it is the men’s superstitious mind which is the inauspicious one.” – M. M. Ildan
“Forecasting future events is often like searching for a black cat in an unlit room that may not even be there.” – Steve Davidson
“Black cats were created to give everyone the opportunity to be owned by a mini-panther.” – Unknown
“Philosophy is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat. Metaphysics is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat that isn’t there.” – Black Cat Analogy
Are you as spellbound by these midnight-coated furballs as I am? Well, you’re not alone, my friends! Feel free to share these quotes with your friends to sprinkle a little extra magic into their day, too.