Mark Twain loved cats. He once said, “I simply can’t resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course.”

And when it came to cats and humans, cats were the standard that humanity needed to attain, because “If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” Even though no one could hope to reach this ideal, that doesn’t mean we’re all bad. Twain wrote: “When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction.”

Here are Twain’s cats as photographed asleep and awake in 1887…

And here he is with them…

Finally, here is a very odd ad from 1940 that dubiously connects Twain’s love for cats with a love for RC Cola…

(via Twain Quotes)

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