Cheshire Cat Quotes

"Cheshire-Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little wider.

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where---" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"---So long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

The following conversation is also well-known. Once again, you get to savor the Cheshire cat's profound wisdom... You are where you're supposed to be... according to the Cat.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

"And how do you know that you're mad?"

"To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?"

"I suppose so," Alice said.

"Well, then," the Cat went on, "you see a dog growl when it's angry, and wag its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I’m mad."

"I call it purring, not growling," said Alice.

Another interesting conversation which precedes the Cat's death sentence. He's supposed to be beheaded.

"Who are you talking to?" said the King, coming up to Alice, and looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity.

"It's a friend of mine – a Cheshire cat," said Alice: "allow me to introduce it."

"I don't like the look of it at all," said the King, "however, it may kiss my hand, if it likes."

"I rather not," the Cat remarked.

"Don't be impertinent," said the King, "and don't look at me like that!"

More Cheshire Cat Quotes

Remember that when talking to a Cheshire cat you may run the risk of running in circles. The following is a prime example of a typical conversation between Alice and the Cheshire cat. The following tête-à-tête comes from Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (1951).

Cheshire Cat: Oh, by the way, if you'd really like to know, he went that way.

Alice: Who did?

Cheshire Cat: The White Rabbit.

Alice: He did?

Cheshire Cat: He did what?

Alice: Went that way.

Cheshire Cat: Who did?

Alice: The White Rabbit.

Cheshire Cat: What rabbit?

More feline wisdom from this literary feline... These Cheshire cat quotes come from the NBC’s TV series Alice in Wonderland (1999).

Cheshire Cat: How're you enjoying the game?

Alice: They don't play very fair.

Cheshire Cat: No one does if they think they can get away with it. That's a lesson you'll have to learn.

Cheshire cat quotes from the movie 2010 Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton.

All this talk of blood and slaying has put me off my tea.

I never get involved in politics.

Cheshire cat quotes about the Cheshire Cat

"Operationally, God is beginning to resemble not a ruler but the last fading smile of a cosmic Cheshire cat." ~ Sir Julian Huxley

"The order of the world is always right -- such is the judgment of God. For God has departed, but he has left his judgment behind, the way the Cheshire Cat left his grin." ~ Jean Baudrillard

Did you find a special Cheshire cat quote? I find them all whimsical. And many are quite insightful.

Related Pages

The Cheshire Cat

Cheshire cat picture gallery

More pictures of the Cheshire cat

More cat quotes


Leave Cheshire Cat Quotes and return to Cat Quotes

Return to the Home Page of Cat Lovers Gifts Guide