Carl Van Vechten Quotes & Sayings

The cat, it is well to remember, remains the friend of man because it pleases him to do so and not because he must. — Carl Van Vechten

Is a little experience too much to pay for learning to know oneself? — Carl Van Vechten

As an inspiration to the author, I do not think the cat can be over-estimated. He suggests so much grace, power, beauty, motion, mysticism. I do not wonder that many writers love cats; I am only surprised that all do not. — Carl Van Vechten

Cleanliness in the cat world is usually a virtue put above godliness. — Carl Van Vechten

Paris is not a city I should care to approach for the first time after I had passed forty. — Carl Van Vechten

One meets the cat in nearly all forms of art ... curiously enough she is not a conspicuous figure in Roman or Greek art. — Carl Van Vechten

A thing of beauty is a boy forever. — Carl Van Vechten

The cat is the only animal without visible means of support who still manages to find a living in the city. — Carl Van Vechten

The cat seldom interferes with other people's rights. His intelligence keeps him from doing many of the fool things that complicate life. — Carl Van Vechten

Catnip is vodka and whisky to most cats. — Carl Van Vechten

Note 4. For these and other reasons the cat is also very hard to photograph. The best photographs are instantaneous, as the mere breathing of a cat will blur the fur in a time exposure. — Carl Van Vechten

Cats seldom make mistakes, and they never make the same mistake twice. — Carl Van Vechten

There is, indeed, no single quality of the cat that man could not emulate to his advantage. — Carl Van Vechten

An ordinary kitten will ask more questions than any five-year-old. — Carl Van Vechten

Cats have gnosis to a degree that is granted to few bishops. — Carl Van Vechten

The lack of imagination or invention most people display in naming pussies is almost beyond credence. — Carl Van Vechten

I've photographed everybody from Matisse to Isamu Noguchi. — Carl Van Vechten

A cat is never vulgar. — Carl Van Vechten