The Library Update is emailed each month to subscribers. Each issue contains an interesting or humourous quote.

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no.11

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. –Iris Murdoch, writer (1919–1999)

no.10

I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. –Margaret Thatcher, politician (1925–2013)

no.9

Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace. –Robert J. Sawyer, writer (1960–)

no.8

Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung. –Voltaire, writer, philosopher, satirist, historian (1694–1778)

no.7

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. –A. A. Milne, writer (1882–1956)

no.6

Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: It's good to be silly at the right moment. –Horace, lyric poet and satirist (65 BC–8 BC)

no.5

A witty saying proves nothing. –Voltaire, philosopher (1694–1778)

no.4

Well-timed silence hath more eloquence than speech. –Martin Farquhar Tupper, writer, poet (1810–1889)

no.3

Using software is mostly like banging your head against a wall so that it feels good when you stop. –Justin Warren, technology consultant

no.2

I spend my time improving the things I can change, not worrying about the things I can't. –Melanie Perkins, technology entrepreneur (1987–)

no.1

To drink a mocha is to gulp down the entire history of the New World. From the Spanish exportation of Aztec cacao, and the Dutch invention of the chemical process for making cocoa, on down to the capitalist empire of Hershey, and the lifestyle marketing of Seattle's Starbucks, the modern mocha is a bittersweet concoction of imperialism, genocide, invention, and consumerism served with whipped cream on top. No wonder it costs so much. –Sarah Vowell, author and journalist (1969–)