Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.

Davies’s quip plays on an affinity between two stereotyped temperaments: the writer’s and the cat’s. Cats are imagined as quiet, self-contained, observant, and selectively affectionate—traits that suit the solitary, attentive labor of authorship. The second clause reverses the comparison for comic symmetry: cats “like authors” because authors share those same qualities. The joke flatters both parties while also hinting at a mutual recognition among independent spirits—creatures (human or feline) who value calm, privacy, and a certain wry wisdom. Beneath the humor is an implicit defense of solitude as something warm and companionable rather than lonely.