Quotes About Curiosity

But - but - but! said Dirk, thumping the table in frustration, don't you understand that we need to be childish in order to understand? Only a child sees things with perfect clarity, because it hasn't developed all those filters which prevent us from seeing things that we don't expect to see.

Albacete (AL-ba-seet) n. A single surprisingly long hair growing in the middle of nowhere.

The thing that used to worry him most was the fact that people always used to ask him what he was looking so worried about.

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.

They would appear," said Ford doubtfully, "to have turned into a bowl of petunias and a very surprised-looking whale

Perhaps they are singing songs to you,' he said, 'and I just think they're asking me questions.' He paused again. Sometimes he would pause for days, just to see what it was like.

What are you after? ... Well, said Zaphod airily, It's partly the curiosity, partly a sense of adventure, but mostly I think it's the fame and the money....

He goggled at her as if she'd said something very strange about beetroots.

What's that?" he yelped. "Don't worry," said Ford, "they haven't started yet." "Thank God for that," said Arthur, and relaxed. "It's probably just your house being knocked down

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.

It was a world called Bartledan

First there had been the fridge.

Does the number," said Arthur gently, "forty-two mean anything to you at all?" "What? No, what are you talking about?" exclaimed Fenchurch.

We're going,' he said excitedly, and shivered with energy. 'Where? How?' said Arthur. 'I don't know,' said Ford, 'but I just feel that the time is right. Things are going to happen. We're on our way.' He lowered his voice to a whisper. 'I have detected,' he said, 'disturbances in the wash.' He

There's only ever been one good answer to that question "Why?" and perhaps we should have that in the alphabet as well. There's room for it. "Why?" doesn't have to be the last word, it isn't even the last letter. How would it be if the alphabet ended, "V W X Why? Z," but "V W X Why not?" Don't ask stupid questions. —

The impossible did not bother him unduly. If it could not possibly be done, then obviously it had been done impossibly. The question was how?

Ah, thank you,' said Ford. He and Arthur took their jynnan tonnyx. Arthur sipped his, and was surprised to discover it tasted very like a whisky and soda.

At intervals along the walls the tiles gave way to large mosaics—simple angular patterns in bright colors. Trillian stopped and studied one of them but could not interpret any sense in them. She called to Zaphod. "Hey, have you any idea what these strange symbols are?" "I think they're just strange symbols of some kind," said Zaphod, hardly glancing back. Trillian shrugged and hurried after him.

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.

That isn't to say that if you get involved in a paradox a few things won't strike you as being very odd, but if you've got through life without that already happening to you, then I don't know which Universe you've been living in, but it isn't this one.

If I asked you where the hell we were,' said Arthur weakly, 'would I regret it?' Ford stood up. 'We're safe,' he said. 'Oh good,' said Arthur. 'We're in a small galley cabin,' said Ford, 'in one of the spaceships of the Vogon Constructor Fleet.' 'Ah,' said Arthur, 'this is obviously some strange usage of the word safe that I wasn't previously aware of.

The history of every major galactic civilisation tends to pass through three distinct and recognisable phases, those of Survival, Enquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterised by the question How can we eat?, the second by the question Why do we eat?, and the third but the question Where shall we have lunch?

began to let his mind wander, trailing his fingers along the edge of an incomprehensible computer bank. He reached out and pressed an invitingly large red button on a nearby panel. The panel lit up with the words Please do not press this button again.

Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen.