QuoteProject
But what about the End of the Universe? We'll miss the big moment." I've seen it. It's rubbish," said Zaphod,"nothing but a gnab gib." A what?" Opposite of a big bang. Come on, let's get zappy.
Douglas Adams
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the nature of existential events and the often anticlimactic nature of significant moments.

In this quote from Douglas Adams, Zaphod Beeblebrox humorously dismisses the importance of the End of the Universe, suggesting that monumental events can be underwhelming and trivial. The phrase 'gnab gib' captures the essence of an anticlimactic conclusion, contrasting with the grandiosity often associated with the concept of a 'big bang.' This reflects a philosophical viewpoint on how people perceive and value significant cosmic events.

Themes

UniverseEndExistenceMomentPhilosophyHumor

In practice

Example use cases

During a talk about the universe's fate at a science conference.

More from Douglas Adams

Listen, three eyes," he said, "don't you try to outweird me, I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal.
Douglas AdamsRead
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "Ask a glass of water."
Douglas AdamsRead
Protect me from knowing what I don't need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don't know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen. [...] Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.
Douglas AdamsRead
Computers are still technology because we are still wrestling with it: it's still being invented; we're still trying to work out how it works. There's a world of game interaction to come that you or I wouldn't recognise. It's time for the machines to disappear. The computer's got to disappear into all of the things we use.
Douglas AdamsRead
What the computer in virtual reality enables us to do is to recalibrate ourselves so that we can start seeing those pieces of information that are invisible to us but have become important for us to understand.
Douglas AdamsRead
We are stuck with technology when all we really want is just stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still technology? A good clue is if it comes with a manual.
Douglas AdamsRead

Similar quotes

As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his action is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation.
Chogyam TrungpaRead
I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all.
Alan PatonRead
Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to each of us.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
It is given to no human being to stereotype a set of truths, and walk safely by their guidance with his mind's eye closed.
John Stuart MillRead
Reality is a prison, where one vegetates and always will. All the rest - thought, action - is just a pastime, mental or physical. What counts then, is to come to grips with reality. The rest can go.
Cesare PaveseRead
There are such beings as vampires, some of us have evidence that they exist. Even had we not the proof of our own unhappy experience, the teachings and the records of the past give proof enough for sane peoples.
Bram StokerRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.