Quotable Friday (30)

This week's quotable book is one I know will have fond memories for many people. It actually started out as a radio play, and only became a book later. That didn't stop it being voted Britain's fourth best-loved book in the 2003 Big Read Poll. It is the brilliant Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

When I read it, I gave it 9/10 for enjoyment and it's a joy to bring it to you today as part of my top-ten Big Read countdown of quotations. As with the other books in the list, there are just so many fabulous lines to quote and many famous passages - most notably, perhaps, the conversation with Deep Thought about the answer it has calculated to Life, The Universe and Everything. So I thought we could have a little quiz this week instead. Here are a few quotations - you have to name the character!

"It must be Thursday [...] I never could get the hang of Thursdays."

"I think you ought to know, I'm feeling very depressed."

"If there is anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now."

"Don't Panic."

And if you're not familiar with Douglas Adams, here is a quotation that won't seem so obscure!

"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."