How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Sadly, however, before she could get to a phone to tell anyone about it, a terribly stupid catastrophe occurred, and the idea was lost forever. (Introduction.7)
Adams doesn't pull punches in the introduction: he comes out and tells us this wonderful idea that would make everyone happy is "lost forever." That's a pretty permanent and terrible way for a story to begin. Even worse, the reason this wonderful solution to sadness is lost is "a terribly stupid catastrophe." This is our introduction to the universe according to Hitchhiker's: not just sad, but sad for stupid reasons.
Quote #2
"The argument goes something like this: 'I refuse to prove that I exist,' says God, 'for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.'
"'But,' says Man, 'The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'
"'Oh dear,' says God, 'I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly vanished in a puff of logic. (6.21-23)
We marvel at this perfect nugget of absurdity: proof of X means not-X. This is a story from the Hitchhiker's Guide (the book inside this book) and it soon tells us that some people don't agree with this proof. But if you buy the premise of this argument (God requires faith, evidence denies faith, the Babel fish is a big piece of evidence), then the conclusion seems undeniable: there is proof God exists—therefore God doesn't exist.
Quote #3
"You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen." (7.122-4)
As we note in the Writing Style section, Adams loves reworking clichés so that we pay attention to the language. (He also loves long, colorful scarves.) Like here: usually when someone says: "I really wish I'd listened," what that person means is: "I wish I had followed that advice." But what Arthur means is just what he said: he wishes he had listened—and heard. That's only part of what makes this absurd. The other aspect of the absurdity is how specific this scenario is—Arthur's mother presented a lesson that would come in handy for only one very particular event.