Monday, December 26, 2005

just up to no good, really...

(was that a hint of a British-ism?)

I've been working on reading The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, by Douglas Adams. Here are some quotes I've compiled that I like. (The page numbers are cumulative for all the books, so there is no singular book that is 600 pages long. Unless of course you put it in size 64 font.)

Douglas Adams on…


Existence…

“In fact the only Oglaroonians who ever leave their tree are those who are hurled out of it for the heinous crime of wondering whether any of the other trees might be capable of supporting life at all, or indeed whether the other trees are anything other than illusions brought on by eating too many Oglanuts.” (p. 194)

Romance…

“Their songs are on the whole very simple and mostly follow the familiar theme of boy-being meets girl-being beneath a silvery moon, which then explodes for no adequately explored reason.” (p. 221)

Falling Apart…

“You go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel.” (p. 231)

Talking…

“His first theory was that if human beings didn’t keep exercising their lips, their mouths probably shriveled up. After a few months of observation he had come up with a second theory, which was this—‘If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, their brains start working.’” (p. 252)

Intimidation…

“Number Two’s eyes narrowed and became what are known in the Shouting and Killing People trade as cold slits, the idea presumably being to give your opponent the impression that you have lost your glasses or are having difficulty keeping awake. Why this is frightening is an, as yet, unresolved problem.” (p. 267)

Flight of People…

“The Guide says that there is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” (p. 322)

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