On either side of the imposing steps of the New York City Library on Fifth Avenue and 42 nd Street are two marble lions. The names of the lions, I recently learned from watching Jeopardy!, are Patience and Fortitude. Those seem to be odd attributes for protectors of education, so I went to the library’s website . Their nicknames have changed over the decades. According to the library: “First they were called Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, after The New York Public Library founders John Jacob Astor and James Lenox. Later, they were known as Lady Astor and Lord Lenox (even though they are both male lions). During the 1930s, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia named them Patience and Fortitude, for the qualities he felt New Yorkers would need to survive the economic depression. These names have stood the test of time: Patience still guards the south side of the Library's steps and Fortitude sits unwaveringly to the north.” In our dining room we have a watercolor painting of the libra