Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

Douglas Noël Adams was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy evolved into a "trilogy" of six books which sold more than 14 million copies in his lifetime. It was adapted into a 1981 television series, several stage plays, comics, a 1984 video game, and a 2005 feature film.

Quotes

I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof was to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
What to do if you find yourself stuck with no hope of rescue: Consider yourself lucky that life has been good to you so far. Alternatively, if life hasn't been good to you so far, which given your present circumstances seems more likely, consider yourself lucky that it won't be troubling you much longer.
Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty- five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

Discovery
You live and learn. At any rate, you live.
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Time
Ah, this is obviously some strange usage of the word 'safe' that I wasn't previously aware of.
In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
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.
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
Time is an illusion, lunchtime doubly so.
Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

Experience
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.