25 Douglas Adams Quotes from Some of His Most Popular Works

Get ready to be entertained by these Douglas Adams quotes.

Douglas Adams has a long list of works and accomplishments from the 49 years that he lived.

He was an English author, essayist, humorist, screenwriter, satirist, and dramatist.

The story goes that he was lying in a field one day looking at the stars with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe next to him which made him decide to write a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

This was just the start.

Douglas Adams had his hand in a number of works from his own hitchhiker’s series to Doctor Who and Monty Python.

His humor and personality show throughout his work.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

Browse our entire collection of inspirational quotes for more motivating ideas and concepts.

Douglas Adams quotes from The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

1. “The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it which the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams

2. “Rather than arriving five hours late and flustered, it would be better all-around if he were to arrive five hours and a few extra minutes late, but triumphantly in command.” – Douglas Adams

3. “Words used carelessly, as if they did not matter in any serious way, often allowed otherwise well-guarded truths to seep through.” – Douglas Adams

4. “There are some people you like immediately, some whom you think you might learn to like in the fullness of time, and some that you simply want to push away from you with a sharp stick.” – Douglas Adams

5. “I’ve had the sort of day that would make St. Francis of Assisi kick babies.” – Douglas Adams

6. “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” – Douglas Adams

7. “People who need to bully you are the easiest to push around.” – Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams quotes from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

8. “To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.” – Douglas Adams

9. “Reality is frequently inaccurate.” – Douglas Adams

10. “He has personality problems beyond the dreams of analysts.” – Douglas Adams

11. “Life is wasted on the living.” – Douglas Adams

12. “The secret of healthy hitchhiking is to eat junk food.” – Douglas Adams

13. “I’m so great even I get tongue-tied talking to myself.” – Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams quotes from The Salmon of Doubt

14. “I have terrible periods of lack of confidence. I just don’t believe I can do it and no evidence to the contrary will sway me from that view.” – Douglas Adams

15. “Beauty doesn’t have to be about anything. What’s a vase about? What’s a sunset or a flower about? What, for that matter, is Mozart’s Twenty-third Piano Concerto about?” – Douglas Adams

16. “I’d take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.” – Douglas Adams

17. “You’re paid a lot and you’re not happy, so the first thing you do is buy stuff that you don’t want or need—for which you need more money.” – Douglas Adams

18. “There’s always a moment when you start to fall out of love, whether it’s with a person or an idea or a cause, even if it’s one you only narrate to yourself years after the event: a tiny thing, a wrong word, a false note, which means that things can never be quite the same again.” – Douglas Adams

19. “He was constantly reminded of how startlingly different a place the world was when viewed from a point only three feet to the left.” – Douglas Adams

20. “All opinions are not equal. Some are a very great deal more robust, sophisticated and well supported in logic and argument than others.” – Douglas Adams

21. “We are stuck with technology when what we really want is just stuff that works.” – Douglas Adams

22. “We notice things that don’t work. We don’t notice things that do. We notice computers, we don’t notice pennies. We notice e-book readers, we don’t notice books.” – Douglas Adams

23. “I vaguely remember my schooldays. They were what was going on in the background while I was trying to listen to the Beatles.” – Douglas Adams
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of Beatles quotes that reach for a better world.

Humorous Douglas Adams quotes

24. “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” – Douglas Adams

25. “A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” – Douglas Adams

Did you enjoy these Douglas Adams quotes?

If you’ve never read or watched any of the works of Douglas Adams, you might want to check them out after reading through these quotes.

He had a love of writing, music, and creativity.

He had a flair for science fiction but that wasn’t it.

He even had his hand in computer games and similar projects.

For not even making it to the age of 50, Douglas Adams created many works and had some published after his untimely death.

If you’re looking for something new to enjoy during your downtime, check out a list of his works and take your pick.

Did you enjoy reading these Douglas Adams quotes and sayings?

Which of the quotes is your favorite?

Let us know in the comment section below.