Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams

Writer, Humorist

Douglas Adams was a British author known for his satirical science fiction, particularly 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' which explores absurdity and existence.

Thinking People Men Funny Two Believe
Born
March 11, 1952
Quotes
578
Rank
#428

Quote collection

Douglas Adams quotes (page 19 of 29)

578 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Douglas Adams Writer, Humorist
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"Well, I mean, yes idealism, yes the dignity of pure research, yes the pursuit of truth in all its forms, but there comes a point I'm afraid where you begin to suspect that the entire multidimensional infinity of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. And if it comes to a choice between spending yet another ten million years finding that out, and on the other hand just taking the money and running, then I for one could do with the exercise."

Running Mean Exercise
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"The fact is, I don't know where my ideas come from. Nor does any writer. The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn't collapse when you beat your head against it."

Real Coffee Ideas
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"Why' is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it. The alphabet does not go 'A B C D What? When? How?' but it does go 'V W X Why? Z."

People Doe Letters
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"We no longer think of chairs as technology, we just think of them as chairs. But there was a time when we hadn't worked out how many legs chairs should have, how tall they should be, and they would often "crash" when we tried to use them. Before long, computers will be as trivial and plentiful as chairs and we will cease to be aware of the things. In fact I'm sure we will look back on this last decade and wonder how we could ever have mistaken what we were doing with them for "productivity""

Technology Thinking Should Have
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"ABOYNE (vb.) To beat an expert at a game of skill by playing so appallingly that none of his clever tactics or strategies are of any use to him."

Clever Games Skills
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"Being offended by things is the world's big hobby at the moment. It's almost taken over from wearing goatee beards."

Taken Hobbies World
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"There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now... What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams."

Sorry Mean Light
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"A mobile phone needs a manual in the way that a teacup doesn't"

Phones Needs Way
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"There are two things in particular that it [the computer industry] failed to foresee: one was the coming of the Internet(...); the other was the fact that the century would end."

Two Facts Computer
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"Ballycumber (ba-li-KUM-ber) n. One of the six half-read books lying somewhere in your bed."

Lying Book Bed
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"And for all the richest and most successful merchants life inevitably became rather dull and niggly, and they began to imagine that this was therefore the fault of the worlds they'd settled on."

Successful Boredom Dull
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"The invention of the scientific method and science is, I'm sure we'll all agree, the most powerful intellectual idea, the most powerful framework for thinking and investigating and understanding and challenging the world around us that there is, and it rests on the premise that any idea is there to be attacked. If it withstands the attack then it lives to fight another day and if it doesn't withstand the attack then down it goes. Religion doesn't seem to work like that."

Life Powerful Hard Work
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"You barbarians!' he yelled. 'I'll sue the council for every penny it's got! I'll have you hung, drawn and quartered! And whipped! And boiled...until...until...until...until you've had enough.' Ford was running after him. Very very fast. 'And then I will do it again!' yelled Arthur, 'And when I've finished I will take all the little bits, and I will jump on them!"

Running Littles Barbarians
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"The point is, you see," said Ford, "that there is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later."

Depression Giving Mad
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"What is the point? We assume that every time we do anything we know what the consequences will be, i.e., more or less what we intend them to be. This is not only not always correct. It is wildly, crazily, stupidly, cross-eyed-blithering-insectly wrong!"

Assuming Crosses Knows
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"I like the cover," he said. "Don't Panic. It's the first helpful or intelligible thing anybody's said to me all day."

Intelligence Panic Firsts
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"I say what it occurs to me to say when I think I hear people say things. More I cannot say."

Thinking People Statistics
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"I really didn't foresee the Internet. But then, neither did the computer industry. Not that that tells us very much of course--the computer industry didn't even foresee that the century was going to end."

Computer Internet Century
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"I wanted to be John Cleese. It took me some time to realise that the job was taken."

Jobs Taken Wanted
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"The dew has fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning."

Morning Dew Fallen
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