The cat sees not the mouse ever.
Meaning: A predator blinded by complacency allows its prey to escape unnoticed.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Wisdom
- When the cat winketh, little wots the mouse what the cat thinketh. — A predator's benign appearance masks hidden intentions; never trust surface calm from tho…
- Though the cat winks awhile, yet sure she is not blind. — Temporary inattention doesn't indicate genuine inability; the cat merely feigns sleep whi…
- Those are wise who learn caution from their own experience; but those are wiser who learn it from the experience of others. — Benefiting from others' mistakes costs less than accumulating your own painful lessons.
- There is nothing certain in this life but death and taxes! — Mortality and financial obligation are life's only inevitabilities, making all other plan…
- I'm too old a bird to be caught by chaff. — Experience teaches you to recognize deception disguised as something worthless or trivial.
- The chamber of sickness is the chapel of devotion. — Illness strips away life's distractions, leaving only the essential human need to seek me…
From our tongue twisters
- Карл у Клары украл кораллы, Клара у Карла украла кларнет. (Karl u Klary ukral korally, Klara u Karla ukrala klarnet.) — A 'kl/kr/r' drama — crime, countercrimes, and consonant clusters all at once.
- Корабли лавировали, лавировали, да не вылавировали. (Korabli lavirovali, lavirovali, da ne vylavirovali.) — One verb, three inflections, pure 'lav/vir' torture — the word grows with every repetitio…
- W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie i Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie. — The opening of a poem by Julian Tuwim, now Poland's most-quoted tongue twister — the cons…