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

The more Susan waited, the more the doorbell didn't ring. Or the phone.

Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.

Earthmen are not proud of their ancestors and never invite them round to dinner.

Obviously somebody had been appallingly incompetent and he hoped to God it wasn't him.

That was it. That was really it. She knew that she had told herself that that was it only seconds earlier, but this was now the final real ulimate it.

Arthur shook his head and sat down. He looked up. “I thought you must be dead …” he said simply. “So did I for a while,” said Ford, “and then I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks. I kept myself amused all that time jumping in and out of a gin and tonic.