--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is a difficult matter to gain the…" description: "\"It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. He is a philosophical, methodical animal, tenacious of his own habits, fond of order and neatn..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/theophile-gautier-7224_affection_it-is-a-difficult-matter-to-gain-the-aff_1490395.jpg" --- # It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat… ![“It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. He is a philosophical, methodical animal, tenacious of his own habits, fond of order and neatness, and disinclined to extravagant sentiment. He will be your friend, if he finds you worthy of friendship, but not your slave.” quote by Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/theophile-gautier-7224_affection_it-is-a-difficult-matter-to-gain-the-aff_1490395.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/theophile-gautier-7224_affection_it-is-a-difficult-matter-to-gain-the-aff_1490395.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c3/theophile-gautier-7224_affection_it-is-a-difficult-matter-to-gain-the-aff_1490395.jpg) > “It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. He is a philosophical, methodical animal, tenacious of his own habits, fond of order and neatness, and disinclined to extravagant sentiment. He will be your friend, if he finds you worthy of friendship, but not your slave.” [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cats value independence and order, forming bonds only with those they deem worthy, not as subservient pets. **In simple terms:** Cats need respect, not control. Key Takeaway Respect a cat’s boundaries. Themes independence respect animal behavior Mood reflective calm Type observational advice When to use this quote - pet ownership - animal training - home environment Key Concepts philosophy habit order Questions to Reflect On - How can you earn a cat’s trust? - What does a cat’s independence teach about relationships? A Different Perspective Cats may never become fully obedient companions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Cat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cat/) [Cats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cats/) [Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friend/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Neatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neatness/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Sentiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sentiments/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) ## Related quotes > [It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal... one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/it-is-difficult-to-obtain-the-friendship-of-a-cat-it-is-a/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [If you are worthy of its affection, a cat will be your friend but never your slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/if-you-are-worthy-of-its-affection-a-cat-will-be-your-friend-but/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“There is no known cure for severe affection for one's cat. The only way to relieve the symptoms is to go ahead and launch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tichakorn-khroopan-hill/there-is-no-known-cure-for-severe-affection-for-one-s-cat-the-only/) Tichakorn Khroopan Hill > [Perhaps the author cited is one of those, who, shunning the practice of the world, have taught the world to shun return! whose poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-laman-blanchard/perhaps-the-author-cited-is-one-of-those-who-shunning-the-practice-of/) [Samuel Laman Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-laman-blanchard/) > [We must avoid fastidiousness; neatness, when it is moderate, is a virtue; but when it is carried to an extreme, it narrows the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-fenelon/we-must-avoid-fastidiousness-neatness-when-it-is-moderate-is-a-virtue/) [Francois Fenelon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-fenelon/) > [We show wisdom by a decent conformity to social etiquette; it is excess of neatness or display that creates dandyism in men, and coquetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-adam/we-show-wisdom-by-a-decent-conformity-to-social-etiquette-it-is/) Robert Adam > [The window gave onto a view of dove-gray roofs and balconies, each one containing the same cracked flowerpot and sleeping feline. It was as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/the-window-gave-onto-a-view-of-dove-gray-roofs-and-balconies-each-one/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [One of the things called forth by the Imagist movement in poetry was neatness; and when we say keenness, we mean neatness. A knife…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-siegel/one-of-the-things-called-forth-by-the-imagist-movement-in-poetry-was/) [Eli Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-siegel/) > [I never walked through the streets of any city with as much satisfaction as those of Philadelphia. The neatness and cleanliness of all animate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-wright/i-never-walked-through-the-streets-of-any-city-with-as-much/) [Frances Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-wright/) > [I'm terribly fastidious. I like symmetry and neatness, but my house is as chaotic as any other family's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccloud/i-m-terribly-fastidious-i-like-symmetry-and-neatness-but-my-house-is/) [Kevin McCloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccloud/) > ['Men die of the diseases which they have studied most,' remarked the surgeon, snipping off the end of a cigar with all his professional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/men-die-of-the-diseases-which-they-have-studied-most-remarked-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“The solution of logical problems must be neat for they set the standard of neatness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/the-solution-of-logical-problems-must-be-neat-for-they-set-the/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of a man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/it-would-be-mortifying-to-the-feelings-of-many-ladies-could-they-be-2/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Tidiness is a virtue, symmetry is often a constituent of beauty...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/tidiness-is-a-virtue-symmetry-is-often-a-constituent-of-beauty/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Neatness begets order; but from order to taste there is the same difference as from taste to genius, or from love to friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/neatness-begets-order-but-from-order-to-taste-there-is-the-same/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) ## More by Theophile Gautier > [“(Decadent style) is ingenious, complicated, learned, full of shades of meaning and research, always pushing further the limits of language... forcing itself to express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/decadent-style-is-ingenious-complicated-learned-full-of-shades-of/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [Art is beauty, the perpetual invention of detail, the choice of words, the exquisite care of execution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/art-is-beauty-the-perpetual-invention-of-detail-the-choice-of-words/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal... one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/it-is-difficult-to-obtain-the-friendship-of-a-cat-it-is-a/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [ \[A cat\] will make itself the companion of your hours of work, of loneliness, or of sadness. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/a-cat-will-make-itself-the-companion-of-your-hours-of-work-of/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“It is as absurd to say that a man is a drunkard because he describes an orgy or a debauchee because he recounts a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/it-is-as-absurd-to-say-that-a-man-is-a-drunkard-because-he-describes/) [Théophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [It may well be that the pictures of Courbet, Manet, Monet and their like contain beauties which escape the notice of such old romantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/it-may-well-be-that-the-pictures-of-courbet-manet-monet-and-their/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“What is the use of beauty in woman? Provided a woman is physically well made and capable of bearing children, she will always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/what-is-the-use-of-beauty-in-woman-provided-a-woman-is-physically/) [Théophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“Smoke By Théophile Gautier Translated by Norman R. Shapiro Over there, trees are sheltering A hunchedback hut... A slum, no more... Roof askew, walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/smoke-by-th-ophile-gautier-translated-by-norman-r-shapiro-over-there/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [It is gentle manners which prove so irresistible in women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/it-is-gentle-manners-which-prove-so-irresistible-in-women/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [There is nothing truly beautiful but that which can never be of any use whatsoever; everything useful is ugly, for it is the expression…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/there-is-nothing-truly-beautiful-but-that-which-can-never-be-of-any/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [To love is to admire with the heart; to admire is to love with the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/to-love-is-to-admire-with-the-heart-to-admire-is-to-love-with-the-mind/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“This apparent hurly-burly and disorder turn out, after all, to reproduce real life with its fantastic ways more accurately than the most carefully studied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/this-apparent-hurly-burly-and-disorder-turn-out-after-all-to/) [Théophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [The word poet literally means maker: anything which is not well made doesn't exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/the-word-poet-literally-means-maker-anything-which-is-not-well-made/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [I was born to travel and write verse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/i-was-born-to-travel-and-write-verse/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [“I have kept thee long in waiting, dear Romuald, and thou mayst well have thought that I had forgotten thee. But I have come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/i-have-kept-thee-long-in-waiting-dear-romuald-and-thou-mayst-well/) [Théophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) [Explore all 86 Theophile Gautier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is a difficult matter to gain the affection of a cat. 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