quote · Legacy record
It has been the providence of Nature to give this creature [the cat] nine lives instead of one.
It has been the providence of Nature to give this creature [the cat] nine lives instead of one.
In print by 1905 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Pilpay (Or Bidpai.)
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1905 AD · modern
In print by 1905: recorded in Familiar Quotations, ninth edition (1905 printing). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Familiar Quotations, ninth edition (1905 printing) (1905 AD)
The Greedy and Ambitious Cat. Fable iii.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.