Library
Library Update: quotes archive
The Library Update is emailed each month to subscribers. Each issue contains an interesting or humourous quote. Subscribe to the Library Update.
- no.24
- Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. –Peter De Vries, editor, novelist (1910–1993)
- no.23
- When the going gets tough, the tough take a nap. –Tom Hodgkinson, writer (1968–)
- no.22
- Keep up the spirits of your patient with the music of the viol and the psaltery, or by forging letters telling of the death of his enemies, or (if he be a cleric) by informing him that he has been made a bishop. –Henri de Mondeville, medieval surgeon (1260–1316)
- no.21
- Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business. –Robert A. Heinlein, engineer, author (1907–1988)
- no.20
- Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac? –George Carlin, comedian (1937–2008)
- no.19
- Some drink deeply from the river of knowledge. Others only gargle. –Woody Allen, director, writer, actor (1935–)
- no.18
- The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is now. –Chinese proverb
- no.17
- The problem with internet quotes is that you cannot always depend on their accuracy. –Abraham Lincoln
- no.16
- The man who can't visualise a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot. –André Breton, poet, writer, anti-fascist, co-founder of Surrealism (1896–1966)
- no.15
- Since the death of Einstein in 1955, there hasn't been a single living genius. From Michelangelo, through Shakespeare, Newton, Beethoven, Darwin, Freud and Einstein, there's always been a living genius. Now, for the first time in 500 years, we are on our own. –J. G. Ballard, writer (1930–2009)
- no.14
- If you can't be kind, at least be vague. – Judith Martin, journalist, author (1938–)
- no.13
- Sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump. –Pierre Auguste Rodin, sculptor (1840–1917)
- no.12
- It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say, and then don't say it. –Sam Levenson, journalist, teacher (1911–1980)
- no.11
- I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. –Jane Wagner, writer (1935–)
- no.10
- The art of living is more like that of wrestling than of dancing; the main thing is to stand firm and be ready for an unforeseen attack. –Marcus Aurelius, Stoic philosopher, Roman emperor (161–180)
- no.9
- If you believe everything you read, better not read. –Japanese proverb
- no.8
- A witty saying proves nothing. –Voltaire, writer, historian, philosopher (1694–1778)
- no.7
- If I can't drink my coffee three times a day, I shrivel up like a piece of roast goat. –J. S. Bach, composer (1685–1750)
- no.6
- Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. –Bill Watterson, artist (1958–)
- no.5
- All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff. –Frank Zappa, musician (1940–1993)
- no.4
- What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork. –Pearl Bailey, actor, singer (1918-1990)
- no.3
- We are born. We eat sweet potatoes. Then we die. –Easter Island proverb
- no.2
- You can't leave footprints in the sands of time if you're sitting on your butt – and who wants to leave butt prints in the sands of time? –Bob Moawad, author, inspirational speaker (1941–2007)
- no.1
- Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.' –Charles M. Shculz, cartoonist (Peanuts) (1922–2000)