Cats are easily the muse of the animal kingdom, hence the outsized number of writers and artists who have welcomed felines into their homes. But you don’t have to be actively working in a creative field to find life with a feline spirited and enlivening. Read on for our favorite quotes about this endlessly original animal!

Photo: Flickr/patchattack

15. As every cat owner knows, nobody owns a cat.

— Ellen Perry Berkeley

Photo: Flickr/Susanne Nilsson

14. Time spent with cats is never wasted.

–- Sigmund Freud

Photo: Flickr/ Dubravko Sorić

13. Cats have it all: admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it.

— Rod McKuen

Photo: Flickr/Alex Adkins

12. Cats choose us, we don’t own them.

–- Kristen Cast

Photo: Flickr/bartlessbee

11. When Rome burned, the emperor’s cats still expected to be fed on time.

— Seanan McGuire