Ford Prefect Quotes:

One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious.

- Douglas Adams

topic: Habit, Found, Obvious, Ford Prefect, Stating The Obvious

Six pints of bitter, said Ford Prefect. And quickly please, the world's about to end.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2010). “The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, p.38, Del Rey

topic: Alcohol, World, Six, Ford Prefect, Pints

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

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five”, p.690, Pan Macmillan

topic: Inspirational, Funny, Fake People, Software Design, Inspirational Design

Life... is like a grapefruit. It's orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast.

- Douglas Adams

topic: Funny, Life, Orange, Ford Prefect, Grapefruit

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2017). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Omnibus: A Trilogy in Four Parts”, p.102, Pan Macmillan

topic: Success, New York, War, Planet Earth, Ford Prefect

My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fibre and that I am therefore excused from saving universes.

- Douglas Adams

topic: Funny, Humor, Doctors, Deficiency, Ford Prefect

Will you stop counting!' snarled Zaphod. 'Yes,' said Ford Prefect, 'in three minutes and thirty-five seconds.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five”, p.171, Pan Macmillan

topic: Three, Thirty, Counting, Ford Prefect

If they don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2010). “The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, p.59, Del Rey

topic: Exercise, Brain, Lips, Ford Prefect

Goosnargh," said Ford Prefect, which was a special Betelgeusian word he used when he knew he should say something but didn't know what it should be.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2009). “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”, p.23, Pan Macmillan

topic: Special, Used, Should, Ford Prefect

So this is it," said Arthur, "We are going to die." "Yes," said Ford, "except... no! Wait a minute!" He suddenly lunged across the chamber at something behind Arthur's line of vision. "What's this switch?" he cried. "What? Where?" cried Arthur, twisting round. "No, I was only fooling," said Ford, "we are going to die after all.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five”, p.55, Pan Macmillan

topic: Waiting, Vision, Lines, Chamber, Ford Prefect

This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Scripts”, p.28, Pan Macmillan

topic: Hitchhiking, Thursday, Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent

Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2009). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, p.35, Pan Macmillan

topic: Safe, Strange, Awareness, Galaxy, Usage

The mere thought hadn't even begun to speculate about the merest possibility of crossing my mind.

- Douglas Adams

topic: Mind, Possibility, Arthur Dent, Crossings, Ford Prefect

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "Ask a glass of water."

- Douglas Adams

source: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams, (Ch. 6), 1979.

topic: Glasses, Drunk, Water, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford Prefect

Names are not always what they seem. The common Welsh name Bzjxxllwcp is pronounced Jackson.

- Mark Twain

topic: Names, Common, Welsh, Anatomy, Ford Prefect

And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, a girl sitting on her own in a small café in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2009). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, p.8, Pan Macmillan

topic: Girl, Nice, Men, Thousand Years, Happy Place

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2009). “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”, Pan Macmillan

topic: Democracies Have, Long, Dolphins, Improbability, Galaxy

and then I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2009). “Life, the Universe and Everything”, p.13, Pan Macmillan

topic: Couple, Gin And Tonic, Week, Ford Prefect

Arthur Dent: What happens if I press this button? Ford Prefect: I wouldn't- Arthur Dent: Oh. Ford Prefect: What happened? Arthur Dent: A sign lit up, saying 'Please do not press this button again.

- Douglas Adams

topic: Buttons, Saying Please, Arthur, Ford Prefect, Arthur Dent

Ford Prefect suppressed a little giggle of evil satisfaction, realized that he had no reason to suppress it, and laughed out loud, a wicked laugh.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2012). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Five”, p.515, Pan Macmillan

topic: Evil, Laughing, Wicked, Ford Prefect

When you're cruising down the road in the fast lane and you lazily sail past a few hard-driving cars and are feeling pretty pleased with yourself and then accidently change down from fourth to first instead of third thus making your engine leap out of your hood in a rather ugly mess, it tends to throw you off stride in much the same way that this remark threw Ford Prefect off his.

- Douglas Adams

source: Douglas Adams (2017). “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Omnibus: A Trilogy in Four Parts”, p.71, Pan Macmillan

topic: Past, Car, Feelings, Feeling Pretty, Driving Cars

Thank God genuine video phones hadn't been invented. I hadn't even grabbed a towel. Ford Prefect would despair of me.

- C.E. Murphy

source: C.E. Murphy (2006). “Thunderbird Falls”, p.304, LUNA

topic: Phones, Despair, Thank God, Ford Prefect