Rat/Mouse Quotes & Sayings
“You dirty, double-crossing rat.” – James Cagney
“You learned the two greatest thing in life, never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.” – Robert De Niro
“Schools are not exam factories for the rat race.” – Johann Lamont
“You’re this rat in the American maze, working your way towards the cheese, which is a job.” – Kevin Costner
“By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation.” – Edmund Burke
“I didn’t miss the rat race, but I kinda missed the rats.” – Jerry Nachman
“Despite all my rage/I am still just a rat in the cage.” – Billy Corgan
“If my love must be a rodent, then shall I be anything but a rat?” – Lynne Jonell
“You want proof evolution is for real, don’t waste your time with fossils; just check out the New York City rat. They started out as immigrants, stowaways in some ship’s cargo hold. Only the survivors got to breed, and they’ve been improving with every new litter. Smarter, faster, stronger. Getting ready to rule. Manhattan wouldn’t be the first island they took over.” – Andrew Vachss
“The phrase ‘Rat you out’ is offensive because it’s not offensive enough. It should be ‘Politician you out.'” – Jarod Kintz
“I wondered if Bill Goldman had ever experienced the same giant rats I had encountered while living in Manhattan – the ones the size of cats, that make you freeze in your tracks. The kind that are not afraid of human beings and carry themselves with that swagger and give you that look that seems to imply, “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?” – Cary Elwes
“The flute of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has never left us and it is essential that we train our ear to detect its false notes because in our case the flute is being played by the rats.” – Dimitris Mita
“Sometimes it’s good to be the smartest rat in the sewer.” – Michael Houbrick
Rat Proverbs
“Rats know the way of rats.” – Chinese
“When the cat’s away the rats will play.” – Spanish
“When men discuss the things which are to be, the rats laugh in the rafters.” – Chinese
“He does not a little who burns his house: he frightens the rats, and warms himself.” – Spanish
“If you have ground nuts in your room expect rats.” – African
“When cats are hairdressers, rats will always go around with uncombed hair.” – African
“Two rats cannot share the same hole.” – Zimbabwean
“Rats plotting: problems with flour.” – Corsican
“A hobbling cat is better than a fast horse when rats swarm the palace.” – Chinese
Mouse Quotes
“I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.” – Walt Disney
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” – Desmond Tutu
“I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession.” – John Steinbeck
“The early bird may get the worm, but its the second mouse that gets the cheese.” – Jeremy Paxman
“Today, if you invent a better mousetrap, the government comes along with a better mouse.” – Ronald Reagan
“Our brains have been designed to blur the line between self and other. It is an ancient neural circuitry that marks every mammal, from mouse to elephant.” – Frans de Waal
“The trouble with most Englishwomen is that they will dress as if they had been a mouse in a previous incarnation they do not want to attract attention.” – Edith Sitwell
“I do see your point, but to me, I’m just a mouse compared to the President of the United States.” – Jon Lovitz
“T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” – Clement Clarke Moore
“A mouse does not rely on just one hole.” – Plautus
“The mouse that hath but one hole is quickly taken.” – George Herbert
“I would rather be the tail of a lion than the head of a mouse.” -Daddy Yankee
“We already live a very long time for mammals, getting three times as many heartbeats as a mouse or elephant. It never seems enough though, does it?” – David Brin
“A fly with a brain the size of a salt grain has the behavioral repertoire nearly as complex as a much larger animal such as a mouse. That’s a super-interesting problem from an engineering perspective.” – Michael Dickinson
“Only very brave mouse makes nest in cat’s ear.” – Earl Derr Biggers
“Lion sounds that have not grown from the mouse may exude naked power… but cannot convey any wisdom or understanding… The initial steps on the path to courageous speech then are the first tentative steps into the parts of us that cannot speak.” – David Whyte
“Mice are terribly chatty. They will chat about anything, and if there is nothing to chat about, they will chat about having nothing to chat about. Compared to mice, robins are reserved.” – Robin McKinley
Mouse Proverbs
“A girl with cotton stockings never sees a mouse.” – American
“A bird can roost but on one branch, a mouse can drink not more than its fill from a river.” – Chinese
“Can a mouse fall in love with a cat?” – Darkovan
“The mouse in the wall may look at a cat, but he is wise not to squeak about it.” – Darkovan
“While the muse in the walls may look from afar at a cat, he does well not to go squeaking about it.” – Darkovan
“A cat is a lion to mouse.” – German
“No house without a mouse, no barn without a corn, no rose without a thorn.” – German
“Two cats and one mouse, two women in one house, two dogs to one bone, will not agree long.” – German
“A mouse will scare a thief.” – Italian