Quotes from Douglas Adams

Life is wasted on the living.'

And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.

I didn't have a copy of Europe on Five Dollars a Day (as it then was) because I wasn't in that financial league.

Try and understand his problem,' insisted Ford. 'Here he is, poor lad, his entire life's work is stamping around, throwing people off spaceships . . .' 'And shouting,' added the guard. 'And shouting, sure,' said Ford patting the blubbery arm clamped round his neck in friendly condescension, '. . . and he doesn't even know why he's doing it!

All right," said Ford, "just stop panicking!

The waiter smiled a polite little waiter's smile. He had almost exhausted his polite little waiter repertoire and would soon be slipping into his role of a rather tight-lipped and sarcastic little waiter.

As dramatic seas of light went, it was fine, but light is meant to illuminate something, and having driven through what this particularly dramatic sea of light was illuminating they didn't think much of it.

Miró fijamente los instrumentos con el aire de quien intentara pasar de memoria de la escala Fahrenheit a la centígrada mientras la casa está en llamas.

Today was the day; today was the day when they would realize what Zaphod had been up to. Today was what Zaphod Beeblebrox's presidency was all about.

Foreigners are not allowed to drive in China, and you can see why. The Chinese drive, or cycle, according to laws that are simply not apparent to an uninitiated observer, and I'm thinking not merely of the laws of the Highway Code, I'm thinking of the laws of physics.

Totally mad," he said, "utter nonsense. But we'll do it because it's brilliant nonsense.

In fact, vertigo is explained by some not as the fear of falling, but as the temptation to jump!

him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn't be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn't understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid.

Me ha dicho el médico que tengo mal formada una glándula del deber social y una deficiencia congénita en la fibra moral y que por tanto estoy excusado de salvar universos.

as he drove on, the rain clouds dragged down the sky after him for, though he did not know it, Rob McKenna was a Rain God. All he knew was that his working days were miserable and he had a succession of lousy holidays. All the clouds knew was that they loved him and wanted to be near him, to cherish him and to water him.

and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation's Galaxy-wide success is founded – their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.

I think you ought to know I'm feeling very depressed,' it said.

There is a feeling which persists in England that making a sandwich interesting, attractive, or in any way pleasant to eat is something sinful that only foreigners do.

Zaphod's eyes sparkled with something that may or may not have been avarice as he passed over them. In fact it's best to be clear on this point—avarice is definitely what it was.

The argument goes something like this: 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.' 'But,' says Man, 'the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own argument, you don't. QED.' 'Oh, dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and he promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

Hey, what's this bomb thing?" said Zaphod in alarm to Marvin. "The supernova bomb?" said Marvin. "It's a very, very small bomb." "Yeah?" "That would destroy the Universe completely," added Marvin. "Good idea, if you ask me.

Il mio medico dice che ho la ghiandola del dovere malformata e una deficienza congenita della fibra morale – mormorò fra sé, – e che quindi sono esentato dall'incarico di salvare universi.

We are quite definitely here as representatives of the Amalgamated Union of Philosophers, Sages, Luminaries and Other Thinking Persons

Six pints of bitter.' said Ford Prefect to the barman of the Horse and Groom. 'And quickly please, the world's about to end.