2,000 years ago one man got nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be if everyone was nice to each other for a change.

He was a dreamer, a thinker, a speculative philosopher... or, as his wife would have it, an idiot.

Much to his annoyance, a thought popped into his mind. It was very clear and very distinct, and he had now come to recognize these thoughts for what they were. His instinct was to resist them.

From another direction he felt the sensation of being a sheep startled by a flying saucer, but it was virtually indistinguishable from the feeling of being a sheep startled by anything else it ever encountered, for they were creatures who learned very little on their journey through life, and would be startled to see the sun rising in the morning, and astonished by all the green stuff in the fields.

Exactly!" said Deep Thought. "So once you do know what the question actually is, you'll know what the answer means.

The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome.

R is a velocity of measure, defined as a reasonable speed of travel that is consistent with health, mental well-being, and not being more than, say, five minutes late. It is therefore clearly as almost infinite variable figure according to circumstances, since the first two factors vary not only with speed as an absolute, but also with awareness of the third factor. Unless handled with tranquility, this equation can result in considerable stress, ulcers, and even death.