Quotes

Douglas Adams — The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

1. The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

   • Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. p.29
   • The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. p.35

2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

   • There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is there, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
     There is another theory which states that this has already happened p.154 f
   • The story so far:
     In the beginning the Universe was created.
     This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. p.155
   • [Vogon ship description] Uglier things have been spotted in the skies, but not by reliable witnesses. p.156
   • The Universe, as has been observerd before, is an unsettlingly big place, a fact which for the sake of a quiet life most people tend to ignore. p.198
   • The major problem — one of the major problems, for there are several - one of the major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it for them.
     To summarize: it is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President schould on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are the problem. p.278

3. Life, the Universe and Everything

   • The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand million, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine times out of a billion it is much simpler and more effective just to take the thing away and do without it. p.335
   • Since this Galaxy began, vast civilizations have arisen and fallen, risen and fallen, risen and fallen so often that it's quite tempting to think that life in the Galaxy must be
     (a) something akin to seasick — space-sick, time sick, history sick or some such thing, and
     (b) stupid. p.337

Cast

Name	Description	First Encounter
Arthur Dent	a male descendant from the monkeys	The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Chapter one
Ford Prefect	born on Betelgeuse 7, stranded on Earth for 15 years as he researched for the Giude	soon after Arthur
Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz	Captain of the Vogon constructor ship to destroy Earth	see above
Zaphod Beeblebrox	President of the Galaxy	ditto
Trillian	Trisha McMillan, born on Earth, left the planet on a party six month before it's demolishon, with Zaphod Beeblebrox	again
Marvin	the paranoid android	guess
Yooden Vranx	former President of the Galaxy
Slartibartfast	Planet Designer on Magrathea, created coastlines, mostly Fjords. Won an award for Finland	The Guide, Chapter 21
Zarniwoop	an editor for the Guide	The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Chapter 6
Roosta	a myterious friend of Zaphod	B2/C6
Gargravarr	the disembodied Custodian of the Total Perspective Vortex on Frogstar World B	B2/C9
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged	one of the Universe's very small number of immortal beings	B3/C1

Various Stuff

The Bablefish is a small yellow fish, feeding on the brainwaves of it's host and in return lets him understand any language spoken to him

Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster a special drink, invented by Zaphod Beeblebrox

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal a very dangerous species

Hooloovoo is a super intelligent shade of the color blue