Tigers

Tigers (Panthera tigris), a member of the Felidae family, are the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera. They are native to much of eastern and southern Asia, and are an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. The larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids, reaching up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) in total length, weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), and having canines up to 4 inches long. Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts.

• All you gotta do is to use your instincts. How do you think a tiger knows how to tackle a gazelle? It's written, it's code written in their DNA, says "Tackle the gazelle." Believe it or not, in every man there's a code written that says "Tackle drunk bitches."
  • Judd Apatow and Steve Carell, The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005).

• Tiger, tiger, burning bright
  In the forests of the night,
  What immortal hand or eye,
  Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
  • William Blake, The Tiger, reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 792.

• If a man proves too clearly and convincingly to himself … that a tiger is an optical illusion — well, he will find out he is wrong. The tiger will himself intervene in the discussion, in a manner which will be in every sense conclusive.
  • G. K. Chesterton, reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 898.

• One doesn’t contradict a hungry tiger.
  • Ruth Stiles Gannett, My Father's Dragon (1948), Chapter 5

• To those new States whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom — and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
  • John F. Kennedy, Inaugural address, Washington D.C. (20 January 1961)

• And lastly, Chairman Khrushchev has compared the United States to a worn-out runner living on its past performance, and stated that the Soviet Union would out-produce the United States by 1970. Without wishing to trade hyperbole with the Chairman, I do suggest that he reminds me of the tiger hunter who has picked a place on the wall to hang the tiger's skin long before he his caught the tiger. This tiger has other ideas.
  • John F. Kennedy, President Kennedy's 13th News Conferences on June 28, 1961 John Source: F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum

• Even after killing ninety nine tigers the Maharaja should beware of the hundredth.
  • Kalki Krishnamurthy, in "The TIger King" as translated in Kalki : Selected Stories (1999).

• Animals do not think like we do. People who forget that get themselves killed. That tiger … is not your friend. When you look into his eyes you are seeing your own emotions reflected back at you.
  • David Magee, in Life of Pi (2012), based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name.

• In the zoo we fed our tigers an average of 5 kilos of meat a day. Richard Parker will be getting hungry soon. Tigers are powerful swimmers, and if he get's hungry enough, I'm afraid the little bit of water between us won't be any protection. I need to find a way to feed him. I can eat the biscuits, but God made tigers carnivores, so I must learn to catch fish. If I don't, I'm afraid his last meal will be a skinny vegetarian boy.
  • David Magee, in Life of Pi (2012), based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel.

• It's The Eye Of The Tiger
  It's the thrill of the fight!
  Standing up to the challenge of your rival.
  • Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger" Eye of the Tiger (1982).

• Qi hu nan xia — When you’re riding a tiger, the hard part is getting off.
  • Chinese saying

• Encyclopedic article on Tigers on Wikipedia
• The dictionary definition of tiger on Wiktionary
• Media related to Panthera tigris on Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Panthera tigris on Wikispecies
• Tigers travel guide from Wikivoyage