There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack…

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.

Life, the Universe and Everything, Chapter 11

Other The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Quotes

“Well for God’s sake I hope you managed to rectify that a bit.”
“Oh yes, well I managed to transmit a new entry off to the editor. He had to trim it a bit, but it’s still an improvement.”
“And what does it say now?” asked Arthur.
“Mostly harmless,” admitted Ford with a slightly embarrassed cough.
“Mostly harmless!” shouted Arthur. - View Quote Details on “Well for God’s sake I hope you managed to rectify…
The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels. - View Quote Details on The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a few…
Old Thrashbarg was surprised at how many spaceship crashes he now had to weave into his stories to keep everyone from rushing off to watch Random’s wrist. - c. ? - View Quote Details on Old Thrashbarg was surprised at how many spaceship crashes he…
Making it up?” said Marvin, swivelling his head in a parody of astonishment, “Why should I want to make anything up? Life’s bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it. - View Quote Details on Making it up?” said Marvin, swivelling his head in a…
The problem is, or rather one of the problems, for there are many, a sizable number of which are continually clogging up the civil, commercial, and criminal courts in all areas of the Galaxy, and especially, where possible, the more corrupt ones, this. The previous sentence makes sense. That is not the problem. This is: Change. Read it through again and you’ll get it. - View Quote Details on The problem is, or rather one of the problems, for…
Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the oceans.
And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, one girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.
Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it, a terribly stupid catastrophe occurred, and the idea was lost forever. This is her story. - View Quote Details on Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made…
The trouble with most forms of transport, he thought, is basically one of them not being worth all the bother. On Earth – when there had been an Earth, before it was demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass – the problem had been with cars. The disadvantages involved in pulling lots of black sticky slime from out of the ground where it had been safely hidden out of harm’s way, turning it into tar to cover the land with, smoke to fill the air with and pouring the rest into the sea, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of being able to get more quickly from one place to another – particularly when the place you arrived at had probably become, as a result of this, very similar to the place you had left, i.e. covered with tar, full of smoke and short of fish. - View Quote Details on The trouble with most forms of transport, he thought, is…
Mr Prosser: “But the plans were on display…”
Arthur: “On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
Mr Prosser: “That’s the display department.”
Arthur: “With a torch.”
Mr Prosser: “Ah, well the lights had probably gone.”
Arthur: “So had the stairs.”
Mr Prosser: “But look, you found the notice didn’t you?”
Arthur: “Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard.” - View Quote Details on Arthur:...">Mr Prosser: “But the plans were on display…”
Arthur:…
The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the ‘Star Spangled Banner’, but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish. - View Quote Details on The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a surprisingly…
“Do you want me to sit in a corner and rust or just fall apart where I’m standing?” - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Fit The Second - View Quote Details on “Do you want me to sit in a corner and…