--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don't bother asking for explanation…" description: "\"“Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat.”\" — Al Stewart" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg" --- # Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you… ![“Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat.” quote by Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg) > ““Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat.”” [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that seeking explanations from her will only yield the same vague answer about her arrival time, implying futility in questioning. **In simple terms:** Asking her why is pointless; she repeats the same story. Key Takeaway Accept the mystery or move on. Themes communication frustration misunderstanding Mood irritated curious Type ly philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - conflict resolution - seeking clarity Key Concepts repetition avoidance Questions to Reflect On - Why do we keep asking for explanations that repeat? - What does the cat symbolize? A Different Perspective She may be avoiding deeper discussion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lyrics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lyrics/) ## Related quotes > [“i really don't bother asking why, i bother myself on asking how it can be done..”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jinnul-jr/i-really-don-t-bother-asking-why-i-bother-myself-on-asking-how-it-can/) [Jinnul Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jinnul-jr/) > [Everything happens for a reason: Don't even bother asking why!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toan-clay/everything-happens-for-a-reason-don-t-even-bother-asking-why/) Toan Clay > [On a morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turn back time. You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/on-a-morning-from-a-bogart-movie-in-a-country-where-they-turn-back/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [It's true. I…I wanted to be born in the year of the cat…!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsuki-takaya/it-s-true-i-i-wanted-to-be-born-in-the-year-of-the-cat/) [Natsuki Takaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsuki-takaya/) > [Don't bother asking God for answers about life. Most likely you're asking the wrong questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-kilmer-purcell/don-t-bother-asking-god-for-answers-about-life-most-likely-you-re/) [Josh Kilmer-Purcell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-kilmer-purcell/) > [“Hunter: I think you're more on the unattainable list. Guys figure you're too good for them, so they don't bother asking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lacey-weatherford/hunter-i-think-you-re-more-on-the-unattainable-list-guys-figure-you/) [Lacey Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lacey-weatherford/) > [If a friend is in trouble, don't bother them by asking if there is anything you can do. Think of something appropriate and do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/if-a-friend-is-in-trouble-don-t-bother-them-by-asking-if-there-is/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Don't bother me. I'm living happily ever after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/don-t-bother-me-i-m-living-happily-ever-after/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Textbook publishers don't even bother to advertise at their conventions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brimelow/textbook-publishers-don-t-even-bother-to-advertise-at-their/) [Peter Brimelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brimelow/) > [Don't bother doing something unless you're radically different from the competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/don-t-bother-doing-something-unless-you-re-radically-different-from/) [Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/) > [What bothers me most is that I don't bother you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waylon-jennings/what-bothers-me-most-is-that-i-don-t-bother-you/) [Waylon Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/waylon-jennings/) > [There's one golden rule to keep before you: laugh about everything and don't bother yourself about the others!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-frank/there-s-one-golden-rule-to-keep-before-you-laugh-about-everything-and/) [Anne Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-frank/) > [“Story time isn't much better. Imagine sitting in a circle with acquaintances, chanting spells and being drilled on a variety of subjects. "What sound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bunmi-laditan/story-time-isn-t-much-better-imagine-sitting-in-a-circle-with/) [Bunmi Laditan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bunmi-laditan/) > [“Don't bother me ... I'm thinking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralphie-parker/don-t-bother-me-i-m-thinking/) Ralphie Parker ## More by Al Stewart > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Jimi Hendrix played loud and free, Sergeant Pepper was real to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/jimi-hendrix-played-loud-and-free-sergeant-pepper-was-real-to-me/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [“The literati in their cellars Perform semantic tarantellas. I wish I did it half as well as them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/the-literati-in-their-cellars-perform-semantic-tarantellas-i-wish-i/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Do you remember the church across the sands? You stood outside and planned to travel the lands, where the pilgrims go. So you packed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/do-you-remember-the-church-across-the-sands-you-stood-outside-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Louis Armstrong playing trumpet on the Judgment Day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/louis-armstrong-playing-trumpet-on-the-judgment-day/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [I know there's a big bad world out there, but I rarely come across it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/i-know-there-s-a-big-bad-world-out-there-but-i-rarely-come-across-it/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Look to the past and remember no empire rises that sooner or later won't fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/look-to-the-past-and-remember-no-empire-rises-that-sooner-or-later/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [On a morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turn back time. You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/on-a-morning-from-a-bogart-movie-in-a-country-where-they-turn-back/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [She doesn't give you time for questions as she locks up your arms in hers. And you follow till your sense of direction completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/she-doesn-t-give-you-time-for-questions-as-she-locks-up-your-arms-in/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Of all the girls I ever knew some loved and some denied me And all the words I ever said have been no use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/of-all-the-girls-i-ever-knew-some-loved-and-some-denied-me-and-all/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [All those people who go to NASCAR and sing country & western songs and live in Tennessee, they totally ignore me, they don't come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/all-those-people-who-go-to-nascar-and-sing-country-western-songs-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [The evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/the-evening-sings-in-a-voice-of-amber-the-dawn-is-surely-coming/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Movie queens diffuse into Cinema haze, while libertines read pornozines in street cafes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/movie-queens-diffuse-into-cinema-haze-while-libertines-read/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [She comes out of the sun in a silk dress, running like a water color in the rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/she-comes-out-of-the-sun-in-a-silk-dress-running-like-a-water-color/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Whoever you pretend to be, you must face yourself eventually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/whoever-you-pretend-to-be-you-must-face-yourself-eventually/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) [Explore all 23 Al Stewart quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) ## More Explanation quotes > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Yesterday's truth is today's bullshit. Even yesterday's liberating insight is today's jail of stale explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-blanton/yesterday-s-truth-is-today-s-bullshit-even-yesterday-s-liberating/) [Brad Blanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-blanton/) > [Before I had kids, I thought you should never lie to a kid. But now I've had them, I realize you almost lie to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-donoghue/before-i-had-kids-i-thought-you-should-never-lie-to-a-kid-but-now-i/) [Emma Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-donoghue/) > [To prevent discussion of any other explanations of human origins is hardly what I would expect from open-minded educators.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-campolo/to-prevent-discussion-of-any-other-explanations-of-human-origins-is/) [Tony Campolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-campolo/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [What most needs explanation is not why some people are criminals, but why most people are not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-q-wilson/what-most-needs-explanation-is-not-why-some-people-are-criminals-but/) [James Q. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-q-wilson/) > [In his anti-Darwinian book... (and eponymously named The Neck of the Giraffe ), Francis Hitching tells the story... "The need to survive by reaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/in-his-anti-darwinian-book-and-eponymously-named-the-neck-of-the/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/the-goal-of-faithfulness-is-not-that-we-will-do-work-for-god-but-that/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ \[Barack Obama\] will spend long periods of time explaining to people why he won't use it. At the end of the explanation, nobody knows… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/barack-obama-will-spend-long-periods-of-time-explaining-to-people-why/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Being a moral realist I see normative ethics as a search of the truth about our obligations and a search of explanation; the idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbjorn-tannsjo/being-a-moral-realist-i-see-normative-ethics-as-a-search-of-the-truth/) [Torbjorn Tannsjo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/torbjorn-tannsjo/) > [Take the story of Cain and Abel. Why were we given that story? Scientifically, you may have an explanation for it, but I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/take-the-story-of-cain-and-abel-why-were-we-given-that-story/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [It is amazing how soon one becomes accustomed to the sound of ones voice, when forced to repeat a speech five or six times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/it-is-amazing-how-soon-one-becomes-accustomed-to-the-sound-of-ones/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [I don't listen to music. I know it's weird, and I have no explanation for that. But I never do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila-slimani/i-don-t-listen-to-music-i-know-it-s-weird-and-i-have-no-explanation/) [Leila Slimani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila-slimani/) > [There are situations when all answers and explanations fade. When you fully accept that you do not know, you give up struggling to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/there-are-situations-when-all-answers-and-explanations-fade-when-you/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) Browse all 1,440 Explanation quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Al Stewart" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she-ll-just-tell-you-that-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Explanation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she-ll-just-tell-you-that-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b35/al-stewart-25178_lyrics_don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she_1425157.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll just tell you that she came, in the year of the cat.” — Al Stewart", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Al Stewart", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Don't bother asking for explanation, she'll...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she-ll-just-tell-you-that-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/don-t-bother-asking-for-explanation-she-ll-just-tell-you-that-she/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```