How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Pity," said Slartibartfast, "that was one of mine. Won an award you know. Lovely crinkly edges. I was most upset to hear about its destruction."
"You were upset!" (24.36-7)
Arthur and Slartibartfast are discussing the loss of Norway, which was a big tragedy for fans of Scandinavian design. As Slartibartfast notes, that was one of his works and maybe the best one. So it's sad for Slarty, but Arthur seems to think that his sadness isn't the whole story. Maybe, you know, the Norwegians might be a little upset, too. But one thing we see in this book is that people sometimes have trouble imagining other people might be sad.
Quote #8
"Science has achieved some wonderful things of course, but I'd far rather be happy than right any day."
"And are you?"
"No. That's where it all falls down of course." (30.11-3)
Ah, the eternal fight between happiness and… everything else in the world. (Spoiler alert: everything else wins.) Slartibartfast is telling Arthur that he wants to make Africa with fjords in Earth 2.0, even though that's not geographically accurate. But who cares? Slarty loves fjords more than he loves being accurate. Unfortunately, it's hard to be happy in Hitchhiker's Guide, even if you're willing to fudge the numbers—or in this case, the glaciers.
Quote #9
"I don't go around gratuitously shooting people and then bragging about it afterwards in seedy space-rangers bars, like some cops I could mention! I go around shooting people gratuitously and then I agonize about it afterwards for hours to my girlfriend!"
"And I write novels!" chimed in the other cop. "Though I haven't had any of them published yet, so I better warn you, I'm in a meeeean mood!" (32.40-1)
Even minor characters get to be sad in Hitchhiker's. It's that sort of equal opportunity book. Here the cops hunting Zaphod express—very directly—that they've got lots to be sad about. The first is sad about having to go around hurting people, though he won't stop doing that; and the second is sad about not being published yet, which he uses to fuel his violence. So sadness here doesn't always lead to good things. (But check the next quote for more.)