It is said that a cat has nine lives but care would wear them all out The earliest version comes from The Galveston Daily News 1898.

Sayings such as curiosity killed the cat. It is said that once curiosity killed a Thomas cat Thomas cat is a jokey form of tom cat that is a male cat The occasional variant to curiosity killed the cat is the addition of satisfaction brought it back. The first portion of the quote warns. The phrase is thought to date back to the 19th century.

Curiosity killed the cat with the full version being Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back is a very common proverb. What though care killed a cat thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care So what about the modern form of this phrase with the word curiosity in it. The first reference to the first half of the phrase is attributed to Ben Jonson in his 1598.

Care killed the Cat. You say curiosity killed the cat to warn someone that they might suffer harm themselves if they try to find out about matters that do not involve them. Ive not been able to trace the source of this odd addition.

Curiosity killed the cat is an idiom - proverb used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. This is quite literally the case for the character Bran in Game of Thrones whose curiosity leads to his forcible fall from the tower after peeking in on some family matters. Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.

Curiosity killed the fact is a surprisingly recent phrase but care killed the cat a phrase with a subtly but importantly different meaning has a much longer and older pedigree. The earliest I could find it in print is from a book by James Allan Mair called Proverbs and Family Mottoes 1891. They say curiosity killed a cat once so I will take warning and let things remain as they are The second-earliest instance that I have found is from A Kittens Perplexity published in The Neenah Daily Times Neenah Wisconsin of Tuesday 23 rd October 1883.

Where are we going Calder asked. It also implies that being curious can sometimes lead to danger or misfortune. Curiosity killed the cat.