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Hear and attend and listen; for this is what befell and be-happened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild. The dog was wild, and the Horse was wild, and the Cow was wild, and the Sheep was wild, and the Pig was wild -as wild as wild could be - and they walked in the Wet Wild Woods by their wild lones. But the wildest of all the wild animals was the Cat. He walked by himself and all places were alike to him
Rudyard Kipling
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote illustrates the independence and wild nature of animals, particularly emphasizing the unique individuality of the cat among them.

Rudyard Kipling's quote describes a time in the past when domesticated animals existed in their wild forms, highlighting their natural behaviors and untamed spirits. Among them, the cat is portrayed as the most independent and wild, symbolizing a uniqueness and freedom that allows it to explore the world on its own terms. This reflects themes of individuality and the intrinsic wildness that exists within all creatures, serving as a reminder of nature's purity before domestication.

Themes

WildCatNatureIndependenceAnimalsFreedom

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a nature documentary discussing the behaviors of wild animals.

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Often and often afterwards, the beloved Aunt would ask me why I had never told anyone how I was being treated. Children tell little more than animals, for what comes to them they accept as eternally established.
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