The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there's the name that the family use daily, Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James, Such as Victor or Jonathan, or George or Bill Bailey - All of them sensible everyday names. There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter - But all of them sensible everyday names. But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular, A name that's peculiar, and more dignified, Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride? Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum - Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; 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.
T.S. Eliot
Related But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will... T.S. ELIOT Before a Cat will condescend To treat you as a trusted friend, Some little token of esteem... T.S. ELIOT Gus is the Cat at the Theatre Door. His name, as I ought to have told you before, Is reall... T.S. ELIOT Jesus is the perfect name! He who put away his fame! And persecuted in shame! That yo... ISRAELMORE AYIVOR Please. What’s your name?” Coraline asked the cat. “Look, I’m Coraline. Okay?” ... NEIL GAIMAN With Cats, some say, one rule is true: Don’t speak till you are spoken to. Myself, I do ... T.S. ELIOT And who are you, the proud Lord said that I must bow so low? Only a cat of a different co... GEORGE R.R. MARTIN The multicolored kitten snuggled between her breasts. Lucky cat. "I thought ma... CANDIS TERRY What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?' 'Cats don't have names,'... NEIL GAIMAN But he grins, so brilliantly, not even paying attention. “I love it when you say my name,” he sa... TAHEREH MAFI You say that your fare told you that he was a detective?" "Yes, he did." "When did he say ... ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE Name me no names for my disease, With uninforming breath; I tell you I am none of these, WITTER BYNNER Poseidon raised his eyebrows as they shook hands. “Blowfish, did you say?” "Ah, no. B... RICK RIORDAN Cats don’t have names,” it said. “No?” said Coraline. “No,” said t... NEIL GAIMAN Hello? This is Clary Fairchild.” “Clary? It’s me, Emma.” “Oh, Emma, ... CASSANDRA CLARE THE MAXIMS OF MEDICINE Before you examine the body of a patient, Be patient to lear... SUZY KASSEM I Name you Echthroi. I Name you Meg. I Name you Calvin. I Name you Mr. Jenkins. I Nam... MADELEINE L'ENGLE But we are running out of colors," said Mr. Violet, intervening. "That cannot be the case," sai... TERRY PRATCHETT A Gift for You I send you... The gift of a letter from your wise self. This is the p... S.A.R.K. I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved... ANDREA GIBSON There is still one of which you never speak.' Marco Polo bowed his head. 'Veni... ITALO CALVINO as long as there are human beings about there is never going to be any peace for... CHARLES BUKOWSKI you are a horse running alone and he tries to tame you compares you to an impossible highw... WARSAN SHIRE The world is a beautiful place to be born into if you don't mind happiness not always... LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI Glossa Time goes by, time comes along, All is old and all is new; What is righ... MIHAI EMINESCU Um, I don’t know your name but -” “Knight,” “Right, Mr. Knight-” “No, K... KRISTEN ASHLEY There's a reason why she left them, Lauren," he says. His voice is deep, and it rumbles. "What's you... VERONICA ROTH Who's Jessie?" "My Yugo" "You have a name for your Yugo? Please don't tell me you're one o... RACHEL COHN I am the slave of the Master of Prophets And my fealty to him has no beginning. I am... يوسف النبهاني Most of us have nicknames—annoying, endearing, embarrassing. But what about your true n... VERA NAZARIAN I ask the impossible: love me forever. Love me when all desire is gone. Love me with the s... ANA CASTILLO JAQUES: Rosalind is your love's name? ORLANDO: Yes, just. JAQUES: I do not lik... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Was that me? Yes it was. Was that him? No it wasn't.. Just a trick of the woods! Just ... STEPHEN SONDHEIM The Type Everyone needs a place. It shouldn't be inside of someone else. -Richard Siken SARAH KAY Your name?"The movements of the man's mouth didn't quite match what he was saying, so seeing him spe... ANTHONY HOROWITZ WHAT IS TRUTH? Truth is not a thing Or a concept. It is as multidimensional SUZY KASSEM Cheshire Puss,' she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name... LEWIS CARROLL I am a Dancer; rehearsing the steps of our unheard song with utmost perfection. Never will you... RANJANI RAMACHANDRAN This poem is very long So long, in fact, that your attention span May be stretched to its ... COLLEEN HOOVER You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself an... DR. SEUSS There is a girl. I named her love. She has a father. His name is desire. Her mo... DEBASISH MRIDHA He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.) And his footprints are not found in ... T.S. ELIOT Lovecraft says he knows about tentacles but that motherfucker never bedded a girl from We... DAVE MATTHES Nobody can claim the name of Pedro, nobody is Rosa or María, all of us are dust or sand,<... PABLO NERUDA I write our names on the page. What of it, if the paper will be burned? I write our names ... KAMAND KOJOURI I promise I'll never tell." "Don't promise that," he said in an ultraserious voice. "If t... JERI SMITH-READY They stay in my mind, these beautiful people, or anyway beautiful people to me, of which t... MARY OLIVER String of love Universe surrounds you The Saints kneels to you My freezin... JHUNMAR SIMILA who are you really? you are not a name or a height, or a weight or a gende... M.K Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room, I am I and you are you... HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND A Woman's Question Do you know you have asked for the costliest thing Ever made by t... JOSHUA HARRIS Hamlet's Cat's Soliloquy "To go outside, and there perchance to stay Or to re... HENRY N. BEARD I think of you often and make no outward show, But what it means to lose you, no one will ... ANON. I want to write something so simply about love or about pain that even ... MARY OLIVER Will the future bring your wisdom to me? Or will darkness rule the kingdom for all eternity? NOSTRADAMUS I remember when your name was just another name that rolled without thought off my tongue. COCO J. GINGER If an eagle gives you a feather, keep it safe. Remember: that giants sleep too soundly; that NEIL GAIMAN As you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that your journey be a long one, filled wit... BARRY B. POWELL Exactly when will you give up? When things will seem out of your hands ? When ... SANHITA BARUAH When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, ... ANON. I wrote a poem to the moon But no one noticed it; Although I hoped that late or soon Someo... ROBERT WILLIAM SERVICE Spilling a Secret What its size, will have varying consequences. It’s not ... ELLEN HOPKINS You’re probably good at taking lip, aren’t you?” I mutter more to myself than to my bodyguard,... ASHLEY POSTON For when the One Great Scorer comes To write against your name, He marks-not that you won or... GRANTLAND RICE Well, I have lost you; and I lost you fairly; In my own way, and with my full consent. Say... EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY A poem to Raymond, whom everybody loves, originally composed on a waterproof smartphone in a sea of ... WILL ADVISE A Pause of Thought I looked for that which is not, nor can be, And hope defer... CHRISTINA ROSSETTI Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend More t... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend More ... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE You are not white, but a rainbow of colors. You are not black, but golden. You a... SUZY KASSEM My child, I know you're not a child But I still see you running wild Between those floweri... ANTONIA MICHAELIS My own dim life should teach me this, That life shall live for evermore, Else earth is dar... ALFRED TENNYSON For strangely graven Is the orb of life, that one and another In gold and power may outp... EURIPIDES what's your name?" what?" i asked, squinting at the light. your name." I reconized Dr. Ole... RICHELLE MEAD THE CONSCIOUS HUMAN You are not just white, but a rainbow of colors. You are no... SUZY KASSEM What does Éloa mean?” He narrowed his gaze, answered her literally. “It’s the name... SARAH MACLEAN A precious mouldering pleasure 't is To meet an antique book, In just the dress his centur... EMILY DICKINSON I have named you queen. There are taller than you, taller. There are purer than you, purer... PABLO NERUDA When Death Comes When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when... MARY OLIVER I like pouring your tea, lifting the heavy pot, and tipping it up, so the fragrant liquid ... CAROL ANN DUFFY You are real," she said to herself. "Aye." His voice was deep and resonant, a caress in h... J.R. WARD That time I thought I could not go any closer to grief without dying I wen... MARY OLIVER Hardly had the light been extinguished, when a peculiar trembling began to affect the netting u... VICTOR HUGO Sonnet XVII I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of ca... PABLO NERUDA You're a poem?' I repeated. She chewed her lower lip. 'If you want. I am a poem, or I am ... NEIL GAIMAN I twist like a flower at the sound of your voice But you leave the receiver static ... KAIT ROKOWSKI If You Forget Me I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: PABLO NERUDA Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines he wrote a poem And he called it "Chops"... STEPHEN CHBOSKY LITTLE DOGS RHAPSODY IN THE NIGHT (PERCY THREE) He puts his cheek against mine ... MARY OLIVER Did I ever tell you about the man who taught his asshole to talk? His whole abdomen ... WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS On behalf of Soumya.. You can love me You can hate me You can take me You ... BINTMALOL On behalf of Soumya.. -Zainab Zubair Malol You can love me You can hate me You c... BINTMALOL The Cat and the Moon The cat went here and there And the moon spun round like a top... W.B. YEATS do you dare to step in- to the vulnerable black, stripped to the soul with human blindnes... BETH MOREY I Will Follow Anyone And Tell Everyone How They Abduct... And Torture Children ... WIDAD AKREYI As for life, I'm humbled, I'm without words sufficient to say how it has b... MARY OLIVER Life is a valuable and unique opportunity to discover who you are. But it seems as soon as... RICHELLE E. GOODRICH Ithaka As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of ... CONSTANTINOS P. CAVAFIS May you find serenity and tranquility in a worl... SANDRA STURTZ HAUSS A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the chil... WALT WHITMAN
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ELIOT The majority of poems one outgrows and outlives, as one outgrows and outlives the majority of human ... T.S. ELIOT My own experience and development deepen everyday my conviction that our moral progress may be measu... T.S. ELIOT Excellence encourages one about life generally; it shows the spiritual wealth of the world. T.S. ELIOT The bad poet is usually unconscious where he ought to be conscious, and conscious where he ought to ... T.S. ELIOT A difference of taste in jokes is a great strain on the affections. T.S. ELIOT All cases are unique and very similar to others. T.S. ELIOT We know too much, and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for religion, and ... T.S. ELIOT When lovely woman stoops to folly and / Paces about her room again, alone, / She smoothes her hair w... T.S. ELIOT The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the windowpanes. T.S. ELIOT We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but its fitting in is a test o... T.S. ELIOT Human kind cannot bear much reality. T.S. ELIOT If you desire to drain to the dregs the fullest cup of scorn and hatred that a fellow human being ca... T.S. ELIOT In the vain laughter of folly, wisdom hears half its applause. T.S. ELIOT To hear the latest Pole / transmit the Preludes, through his hair and fingertips. T.S. ELIOT Friendship should be more than biting time can sever. T.S. ELIOT That corpse you planted last year in your garden, / Has it begun to sprout? Will it bloom this year? T.S. ELIOT Whatever you do, don't whimper, but take the consequences. T.S. ELIOT No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence. T.S. ELIOT Only by acceptance of the past, can you alter it. T.S. ELIOT I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope; for hope would be hope of the wrong thing; wait w... T.S. ELIOT When a Cat adopts you there is nothing to be done about it except put up with it until the wind chan... T.S. ELIOT The highest form of treason: to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Murder in the Cathedral T.S. ELIOT Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. T.S. ELIOT Webster was much possessed by death / And saw the skull beneath the skin. T.S. ELIOT I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is fa... T.S. ELIOT The Nobel is a ticket to one's own funeral. No one has ever done anything after he got it. T.S. ELIOT There is no feeling, except the extremes of fear and grief, that does not find relief in music. T.S. ELIOT When one wanted one's interests looking after whatever the cost, it was not so well for a lawyer to ... T.S. ELIOT For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afterno... T.S. ELIOT Do I dare Disturb the universe? T.S. ELIOT We are the hollow men We are the stuffed men Leaning together Headpiece filled with s... T.S. ELIOT Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? T.S. ELIOT There is shadow under this red rock // (Come in under the shadow of this red rock) // And I will sho... T.S. ELIOT Someone said, 'The dead writers are remote from us because we know so much more than they did.' Prec... T.S. ELIOT We understand the ordinary business of living, We know how to work the machine T.S. ELIOT Oxford is very pretty, but I don't like to be dead. T.S. ELIOT It is certain that a book is not harmless merely because no one is consciously offended by it. T.S. ELIOT We die to each other daily. What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during wh... T.S. ELIOT