Cats Learn What They Live

I have a plaque in my home office entitled Children Learn What They Live, written by Dorothy Nolte in the early 1970s.

Here is an example:

If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.

http://www.empowermentresources.com/info2/childrenlearn-long_version.html

As The New York Times notes in its obituary of Nolte, "The poem has time-honored antecedents in Western oral tradition. With its steady rhythm and gentle didacticism, it recalls well-loved nursery rhymes or ballads."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/arts/20nolte.html

Borrowing the style of Dorothy's wonderful words, I want to put together a similar poem with the collaboration of the forum, like this:

If children with with Abyssinian cats, they learn adventure.
If children live with Siamese cats, they learn curiosity.

etc.

Perhaps this might be the last line of our poem.

If children live with cats of any kind, they learn to find beauty and friendship in their world.

Read responses.