"Rats is rats, past, present, and forever. Weasels change, but rats is rats!"
—John Wesley Weasel, The Book of the Dun Cow
"Rats get no respect. You cause one massive plague and they never let you forget it."
"Of all horrors in the world- a rat!"
—Winston Smith, Nineteen Eighty-Four
"Reader, in the spirit of truth, I must utter a difficult and unsavory truth. Rats are not beautiful creatures. They are not even cute. They are, really, rather nasty beasts, especially if one happens to appear in your bowl of soup with pieces of watercress clinging to his whiskers."
"Rats, we're rats
We're the rats
We prey at night, we stalk at night
We're the rats
I'm the giant rat that makes all of the rules
Let's see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into!"
We're the rats
We prey at night, we stalk at night
We're the rats
I'm the giant rat that makes all of the rules
Let's see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into!"
Rats. Disgusting creatures all. In the Old World, the rat symbolizes decay and disease. The creatures lurk in the midden and the privy, in the slaughter yard and the boneyard. They gnaw at the dead and at their rotten flesh, and if not prevented they creep into homes and granaries, breeding in warm beds and devouring fresh food. And unlike the goat getting into the cabbages, a single rat in the granary could do more than just reduce the food stores. The filth it carries with it could poison the whole harvest, leaving the peasants with two unenviable choices: death by starvation or death by some hideous plague.
—Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Children Of The Horned Rat - A Guide To Skaven
Please, do you really think I enjoy scheming, lying, and scurrying about like some rat with great cheekbones?
— Wilhelmina, Ugly Betty
