When you’re cruising down the road in the fast lane…

When you’re cruising down the road in the fast lane and you lazily sail past a few hard driving cars and are feeling pretty pleased with yourself and then accidentally change down from fourth to first instead of third thus making your engine leap out of your bonnet in a rather ugly mess, it tends to throw you off your stride in much the same way that this remark threw Ford Prefect off his.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (novel), Chapter 13

Other The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Quotes

Will everything tie up neatly or will it be just like life: quite interesting in parts, but no substitute for the real thing? (Fit the Eleventh) - View Quote Details on Will everything tie up neatly or will it be just…
“Was I amongst friends when the Haggunenon admiral evolved into a life pod and everybody aboard his flagship escaped leaving me aboard as it steered itself into the nearest star?
Was I amongst friends when I was left to walk in circles on a swamp planet?
Left to park cars outside a restaurant for millenia?
Left for the Krikkit robots to use for batting practice?
Friend? I don’t think I ever came across one of those, sorry, can’t help you there.” - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Fit The Twenty-Second - View Quote Details on “Was I amongst friends when the Haggunenon admiral evolved into…
The protruding upper halves of the letters now appear, in the local language, to read “Go stick your head in a pig”, and are no longer illuminated, except at times of special celebration. - View Quote Details on The protruding upper halves of the letters now appear, in…
…and he would then enter the long dark teatime of the soul. - (about Wowbagger, the Infinitely Prolonged) - View Quote Details on …and he would then enter the long dark teatime of…
One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very obvious, as in It’s a nice day, or You’re very tall, or Oh dear you seem to have fallen down a thirty-foot well, are you all right? At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behavior. If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. After a while he abandoned this one as well as being obstructively cynical. - View Quote Details on One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest…
“Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself in to its external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length and explained my view of the Universe to it,” said Marvin.
“And what happened?” pressed Ford.
“It committed suicide,” said Marvin [...]. - View Quote Details on “Simple. I got very bored and depressed, so I went…
Beeblebrox, over here!” he shouted.
“No,” called Zaphod, “Beeblebrox over here! Who are you?”
“A friend!” shouted back the man. He ran towards Zaphod.
“Oh yeah?” said Zaphod. “Anyone’s friend in particular, or just generally well disposed to people? - View Quote Details on "No," called Zaphod, "Beeblebrox over here!...">Beeblebrox, over here!” he shouted.
“No,” called Zaphod, “Beeblebrox over here!…
The history of every major galactic civilization has passed through three distinct and recognisable phases: those of survival, inquiry, 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 by the question: “Where should we have lunch?” The history of warfare is similarly subdivided though here the phases are retribution, anticipation, and diplomacy. Thus, retribution: “I’m going to kill you because you killed my brother.” Anticipation: “I’m going to kill you because I killed your brother.” And diplomacy: “I’m going to kill my brother and then kill you on the pretext that your brother did it.” Meanwhile, the Earthman Arthur Dent, to whom all this can be of only academic interest, as his only brother was long ago nibbled to death by an okapi, is about to be plunged into a real intergalactic war. (Fit the Sixth.) - View Quote Details on The history of every major galactic civilization has passed through…
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair. - c. ? - View Quote Details on The major difference between a thing that might go wrong…
“Share and Enjoy” is the company motto of the hugely successful Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints division, which now covers the major land masses of three medium sized planets and is the only part of the Corporation to have shown a consistent profit in recent years. - View Quote Details on “Share and Enjoy” is the company motto of the hugely…