The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide, #1)

by Douglas Adams

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit, etc., etc.

One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationship with Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldn’t be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didn’t understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid. He was renowned for being amazingly clever and quite clearly was so – but not all the time, which obviously worried him, hence the act. He preferred people to be puzzled rather than contemptuous. This above all appeared to Trillian to be genuinely stupid, but she could no longer be bothered to argue about it.

He had found a Nutri-Matic machine which had provided him with a plastic cup filled with a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.

‘Look,’ said Arthur, ‘would it save you a lot of time if I just gave up and went mad now?’

We want you to tell us…’ he paused ‘…the Answer!’ ‘The Answer?’ said Deep Thought. ‘The Answer to what?’ ‘Life!’ urged Fook. ‘The Universe!’ said Lunkwill. ‘Everything!’ they said in chorus.

‘The Answer to the Great Question…’ ‘Yes…!’ ‘Of Life, the Universe and Everything…’ said Deep Thought. ‘Yes…!’ ‘Is…’ said Deep Thought, and paused. ‘Yes…!’ ‘Is…’ ‘Yes …!!! …?’ ‘Forty-two,’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

‘Forty-two!’ yelled Loonquawl. ‘Is that all you’ve got to show for seven and a half million years’ work?’ ‘I checked it very thoroughly,’ said the computer, ‘and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you’ve never actually known what the question is.’ ‘But it was the Great Question! The Universe Question of Life, the Universe and Everything!’ howled Loonquawl. ‘Yes,’ said Deep Thought with the air of one who suffers fools gladly, ‘but what actually is it?’