--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And what cats have to tell on each return…" description: "\"“And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is what the loving do, and that dead dogs ar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg" --- # And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is… ![“And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is what the loving do, and that dead dogs are those who do not know that dying is what, to live, each has to do.” quote by Alastair Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg) > ““And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is what the loving do, and that dead dogs are those who do not know that dying is what, to live, each has to do.”” [Alastair Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reed/) ## 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 juxtaposes dying and living, suggesting that love and awareness of mortality are essential to truly experience life and death. **In simple terms:** Love and awareness of death give meaning to life. Key Takeaway Embrace love and recognize mortality. Themes life death love awareness meaning Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - personal reflection - creative writing - philosophical discussion Key Concepts existentialism philosophy mortality Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing mortality affect how you love? - What does “dying” mean for the living? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats/) [Cats Tell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats-tell-2421219/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [Dead Dogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-dogs-912211/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Dogs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dogs/) [Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying/) [Dying Loving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dying-loving-1141643/) [Hell Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-dying-2421220/) [Know Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-dying-268095/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“alone tonight in this house, alone with 6 cats who tell me without effort all that there is to know.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/alone-tonight-in-this-house-alone-with-6-cats-who-tell-me-without/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [Movement turns dead dogs into maggots and daisies, and flour butter sugar an egg and a tablespoon of milk into Abernethy biscuits, and spermatozoa…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alasdair-gray/movement-turns-dead-dogs-into-maggots-and-daisies-and-flour-butter/) [Alasdair Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alasdair-gray/) > [“Why has he taken this job?... For the sake of the dogs? But the dogs are dead; and what do dogs know of honour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-coetzee/why-has-he-taken-this-job-for-the-sake-of-the-dogs-but-the-dogs-are/) [J.M. 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Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milkweed-l-augustine/) > [Being is Dying by Loving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meher-baba/being-is-dying-by-loving/) [Meher Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meher-baba/) > [Don't Take Your Relationship For Granted, You Never Know, Someone Somewhere Must Be Dying to Take Your Place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zain/don-t-take-your-relationship-for-granted-you-never-know-someone/) [Zain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zain/) > [“What do I want? I want you to talk about normal things. No I don’t. I want you to look me in the eye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/what-do-i-want-i-want-you-to-talk-about-normal-things-no-i-don-t-i/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [It's a strange thing now how people will know they're dying themselves when no one else could suspect anything wrong at all with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-tynan/it-s-a-strange-thing-now-how-people-will-know-they-re-dying/) [Katharine Tynan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-tynan/) > [“Through meditation we come to know that we are dying & being reborn in every moment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/through-meditation-we-come-to-know-that-we-are-dying-being-reborn-in/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [“Because someone needs to help you die the right way,” she said. “And we both know that dying ain’t something you ever done before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/because-someone-needs-to-help-you-die-the-right-way-she-said-and-we/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [“That night, JoAnn didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to go. She understood, in that quiet hour, things that only people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-holloway/that-night-joann-didn-t-want-to-leave-but-she-knew-she-had-to-go-she/) [Monica Holloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-holloway/) ## More Cats quotes > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [Okay, so I'll admit I'm curious. Big deal. We both know what that leads to. Dead cat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-elizabeth-phillips/okay-so-i-ll-admit-i-m-curious-big-deal-we-both-know-what-that-leads/) [Susan Elizabeth Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-elizabeth-phillips/) > [I liked Cats as a kid, now its hard to say. 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The cat often leaves the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-dog-is-guided-by-kindly-instinct-to-the-man-or-woman-whose-heart/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [When I see things through my eyes, I don't want to ever just be really negative towards someone's performance. There are many ways to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stone-cold-steve-austin/when-i-see-things-through-my-eyes-i-don-t-want-to-ever-just-be-really/) [Stone Cold Steve Austin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stone-cold-steve-austin/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“In the morning, when she wishes me to wake, she crouches on my chest, and pats my face with her paw. 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Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“Quin took on the air of someone who has just realized it's time for the yearly visit to the spinster great-aunt in a desperate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-fecteau/quin-took-on-the-air-of-someone-who-has-just-realized-it-s-time-for/) [Amy Fecteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-fecteau/) > [“Save for the ancient Egyptians, he found, virtually no one kept cats as pets until the latter part of the 1700s. The first people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-mcauliffe/save-for-the-ancient-egyptians-he-found-virtually-no-one-kept-cats-as/) [Kathleen McAuliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-mcauliffe/) [Browse all 3,253 Cats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is what the loving do, and that dead dogs are those who do not know that dying is what, to live, each has to do.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alastair Reed" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reed/and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-return-from-hell-is-this-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cats" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reed/and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-return-from-hell-is-this-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99e/alastair-reed-217162_cats_and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-retur_1039370.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And what cats have to tell on each return from hell is this: that dying is what the living do, that dying is…” — Alastair Reed", "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": "Alastair Reed", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reed/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“And what cats have to tell...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reed/and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-return-from-hell-is-this-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reed/and-what-cats-have-to-tell-on-each-return-from-hell-is-this-that/#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 } } ] } ```