Quotes About Observation

It is difficult to be sat on all day, every day, by some other creature, without forming an opinion about them. On the other hand, it is perfectly possible to sit all day, every day, on top of another creature and not have the slightest thought about them whatsoever.

The mice will see you now, he said.

Kate wondered for a moment how it was that eyes conveyed such an immense amount of information about their owners. They were, after all, merely spheres of white gristle. They hardly changed as they got older, apart from getting a bit redder and a bit runnier. The iris opened and closed a bit, but that was all. Where did this flood of information come from?

You're really not going to like it, observed Deep Thought. Tell us! All right, said Deep Thought. The answer to the Great Question... Yes...! Of Life, the Universe and Everything... said Deep Thought. Yes...! Is... said Deep Thought, and paused. Yes...! Is... Yes...!!!...? Forty-two, said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You are very tall or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty foot well, are you all right?

En sí misma, la Bistromática es una nueva y revolucionaria forma de entender el comportamiento de los números. Así como Einstein observó que el tiempo no era absoluto sino que dependía del movimiento del espectador en el espacio, y que el espacio no era absoluto sino que dependía del movimiento del espectador en el tiempo, así se comprende ahora que los números no son absolutos, sino que dependen del movimiento del espectador en los restaurantes

Richard reflected that Dirk's was a face into which too much had already been put. What with that and the amount he talked, the traffic through his mouth was almost incessant. His ears, on the other hand, remained almost totally unused in normal conversation.

Yeah, I'm sure that's him, he would add when shown a picture of Gordon Way. I only wasn't sure at first because in the picture he's got his mouth closed.

You mean you've been in this same set of rooms here for... two hundred years?' murmured Richard. 'You'd think someone would notice, or think it was odd.' 'Oh, that's one of the delights of the older Cambridge colleges,' said Reg, 'everyone is so discreet. If we all went around mentioning what was odd about each other we'd be here till Christmas.

scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting.

Sherlock Holmes observed that once you have eliminated the impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.

When the girl sitting at the next table looked away for a moment, Dirk leaned over and took her coffee. He knew that he was perfectly safe doing this because she would simply not be able to believe that this had happened. He sat sipping at the lukewarm cup and casting his mind back over the day.

So that you understand that just because you see something, it doesn't mean to say it's there. And if you don't see something it doesn't mean to say it's not there, it's only what your senses bring to your attention.

He sat and tapped his teeth with a pencil again and watched his sofa slowly revolving on the screen of his computer.

ART: None. The function of art is to hold the mirror up to nature, and there simply isn't a mirror big enough—see point one.

Just as Einstein observed that space was not an absolute but depended on the observer's movement in space, and that time was not an absolute, but depended on the observer's movement in time, so it is now realized that numbers are not absolute, but depend on the observer's movement in restaurants.

He almost danced to the fridge, found the three least hairy things in it, put them on a plate and watched them intently for two minutes. Since they made no attempt to move within that time he called them breakfast and ate them.

He was not conspicuously tall, his features were striking but not conspicuously handsome.

Well, that was another thing that hadn't changed. Some people pick their noses, others habitually beat up old ladies on the streets.

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious

Bir ÅŸeyi görmeniz onun orada olduÄŸu anlam?na gelmediÄŸi gibi, bir ÅŸeyi görmemeniz onun orada olmad??? anlam?na gelmez. Just like seeing something doesn't mean it's there, not seeing something doesn't mean it isn't there. Wie bedeutet nicht etwas zu schauen, dass es da ist; etwas zu nicht schauen bedeutet nicht, dass es nicht da ist.

I'm a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.

En este punto vale la pena recordar las teorías a las que había llegado Ford en su primer encuentro con los seres humanos para explicar su extraña costumbre de afirmar y reafirmar de continuo lo claro y evidente, como «Hace buen día», «Es usted muy alto», o «Así que ya está, vamos a morir».

One of the things Ford Perfect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious, as in It's a nice day, or You're very tall, or Oh dear you've fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you alright?