Mostly Harmless (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #5)

by Douglas Adams

You can slice the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash any way you like and you will generally come up with something that someone will call home. Please feel free to blither now.

He thought of all the corporate lawyers who occupied half of the building, all the “operatives” who occupied the lower levels, and all the sub-editors and their secretaries and their secretaries’ lawyers and their secretaries, lawyers’ secretaries and, worst of all, the accountants and the marketing department.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

“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.”)

You know they’ve reintroduced the death penalty for insurance company directors?” “Really?” said Arthur. “No, I didn’t. For what offense?” Trillian frowned. “What do you mean, offense?” “I see.”

So everything was going well, was it? Everything was working out as if the most extraordinary luck was on his side? Well, he’d see about that. In a spirit of scientific inquiry he hurled himself out of the window again.