Library Update: quotes archive
The Library Update is emailed each week to subscribers. Each issue contains an interesting or humourous quote. All the quotes used since 2000 are listed here. Subscribe to the Library Update.
- no.51
- People must not do things for fun. We are not here for fun. There is no reference to fun in any Act of Parliament. - A. P. Herbert, English humorist, novelist, playwright and law reform activist, (1890 - 1971)
- no.50
- The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. – John Gilmore, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- no.49
- Whenever people say 'We mustn't be sentimental,' you can take it they are about to do something cruel. And if they add 'We must be realistic,' they mean they are going to make money out of it. - Brigid Brophy, writer, (1929-1995)
- no.48
- Speak the truth, but leave immediately after. - Slovenian Proverb
- no.47
- The road to hell is paved with adverbs. - Stephen King, US horror novelist and screenwriter (1947 - )
- no.46
- Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from molasses. - Anonymous
- no.45
- We learn something every day, and lots of times it's that what we learned the day before was wrong. - Bill Vaughan, journalist, (1915 - 1977).
- no.44
- Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary. - Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author (1850 - 1894).
- no.43
- The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from Science, along with behaviour control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers." - Lewis Thomas, US author, biologist, physician, (1913 - 1993).
- no.42
- The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents, and the second half by our children. - Clarence Darrow, US defense lawyer (1857 - 1938).
- no.41
- One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. - A. A. Milne (1882 - 1956)
- no.40
- Nothing is illegal if one hundred businessmen decide to do it. - Andrew Young, author, civil rights activist, US congressman, mayor, and UN ambassador (1932 - )
- no.39
- Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on the top. - Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989).
- no.38
- Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet. - Chinese Proverb
- no.37
- I don't care what it is, when it has an LCD screen, it makes it better. - Kevin Rose, Diggnation, Our Lip Dub Is Better Than Yours, 2008.
- no.36
- Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. - Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, (1952 - 2001).
- no.35
- Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late. - Thomas Sowell, economist, social commentator, and author (1930 - ).
- no.34
- It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts. -Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)
- no.33
- The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. - Pierre de Fredy, pedagogue and historian, founder of the modern Olympic games, (1863 - 1937).
- no.32
- Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules and sadistic pleasure in witnessing violence. In other words, it is war minus the shooting. - George Orwell, writer (1903-1950).
- no.31
- It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable. - Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind, 1954.
- no.30
- People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them. - Anatole France, French novelist (1844 - 1924).
- no.29
- Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving. - Dale Carnegie, lecturer, author, (1888-1955).
- no.28
- No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you will see why. - Mignon McLaughlin, journalist, author (1913 - 1983).
- no.27
- If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning. - Catherine Aird, British author, (1930 - ).
- no.26
- It took a genius to develop an aspirin bottle that couldn't be opened by a child capable of operating a VCR. Doug Larson, Olympic Gold Medalist (1902-1981).
- no.25
- It's so much easier to suggest solutions when you don't know too much about the problem. - Malcolm Forbes, art collector, author, publisher (1919 - 1990).
- no.24
- I would rather be a coward than brave because people hurt you when you are brave. - E. M. Forster, British novelist (1879 - 1970).
- no.23
- Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts. - Madame de Stael, writer (1766-1817)
- no.22
- The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. - Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize Laureate (Physics), (1879 - 1955).
- no.21
- I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on. - Beryl Pfizer, writer, actor.
- no.20
- Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels. - Faith Whittlesey.
- no.19
- Our heads are round so that thoughts can change direction. - Francis Picabia, painter and poet (1879-1953).
- no.18
- Inanimate objects are classified scientifically into three major categories - those that don't work, those that break down and those that get lost. - Russell Baker, US columnist & journalist (1925 - )
- no.17
- The reason lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn't there the second time. - Willie Tyler, ventriloquist, comedian and actor (1940 - ).
- no.16
- Never lend books - nobody ever returns them; the only books I have in my library are those which people have lent me. - Anatole France, novelist, essayist, Nobel laureate (1844-1924)
- no.15
- Finance is the art of passing money from hand to hand until it finally disappears. - Robert W. Sarnoff, media executive, (1918 - 1997).
- no.14
- It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young. - Konrad Lorenz, German (Austrian-born) ethologist (1903 - 1989)
- no.13
- I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers. - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948).
- no.12
- It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over. - Edna St. Vincent Millay, US poet (1892 - 1950).
- no.11
- If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough - Mario Andretti, US (Italian-born) automobile racer (1940 - ).
- no.10
- In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these. - Paul Harvey Aurandt (1918 - ).
- no.9
- There is no doubt that the first requirement for a composer is to be dead. - Arthur Honegger, French composer (1892 - 1955).
- no.8
- Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. - Mark Twain, US author, (1835 - 1910).
- no.7
- About the time we think we can make ends meet, somebody moves the ends. - Herbert Hoover, US mining engineer and politician (1874 - 1964).
- no.6
- After the last of 16 mounting screws has been removed from an access cover, it will be discovered that the wrong access cover has been removed. - De La Lastra's Law.
- no.5
- Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more. - Mark Twain, US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910).
- no.4
- A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. - Herm Albright, (1876 - 1944).
- no.3
- I need someone to protect me from all the measures they take in order to protect me. - Banksy, street artist (1974 - ).
- no.2
- My theory is that all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare. - Mike Myers, writer, actor (1963 - ).
- no.1
- I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. -Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869 - 1948).