Douglas Adams would have been 61 today.
As someone who still envisions the words "DON'T PANIC" in large friendly letters every time I get myself in a dicey situation, I thought I'd throw a few of his more memorable quotes out there for you, complete with when I tend to use them in my every day life:
Quote I say (at least in my head) every time I have flown, ever:
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression “As pretty as an airport.”
Quote I ponder when watching people on public transportation:
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.There is another theory which states that this has already happened."
Quote I think of when I'm lying on the couch and realize I'm thirsty but my water is in the dining room:
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the drug store, but that's just peanuts to space."
Quote I think of most often when I'm tripping over something or falling down stairs:
"There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. … Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties."
Quote I feel best describes my adolescence:
"A learning experience is one of those things that say, “You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.”
Feel free to add your own favorite quote in the comments.
“It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.”
ReplyDelete"All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others."
ReplyDeleteFabulous quotes. I actually went ahead and bought the whole "increasingly misnamed" Hitchhiker's trilogy on my kindle after writing this post.
ReplyDeleteI think of this scene when going to meetings:
ReplyDelete"And the wheel," said the Captain, "what about this wheel thingy? It sounds a terribly interesting project."
"Ah," said the marketing girl, "well, we're having a little difficulty there."
"Difficulty?" exclaimed Ford. "Difficulty? What do you mean, difficulty? It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!"
The marketing girl soured him with a look. "All right Mr. Wiseguy," she said, "you're so clever, you tell us what color it should be."
For random political discussions:
ReplyDelete"The major problem—one of the major problems, for there are several—one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who must want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."