h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

1. Things can go wrong even when they can't.
2. If things don't go wrong on their own, others people will make them go wrong for you. In other words, you can rely on other people to make things go wrong.

By the way, excellent, well-constructed entry. I wish I'd thought of it. If it hasn't already, I recommend it as an official entry.

Sure - glad to see it has been edited.

The best specific clause I ever saw was "don't mess with Mrs. Murphy!"

Here's one why is it that depressed people live the happiest lives from other peoples' point of view?

Hmm... I'd change "things can go wrong even if they can't" to "things can go wrong, especially if they can't."

By the way, am I the only person here that has ever heard Murphy's law and it infinite variations referred to as "Finagle's Law?

I would like to add that it is now well established that Murphy's Law is the overriding law of physics in the Universe. Not only will anything that can go wrong will go wrong, but often things that CAN'T go wrong will go wrong, for no feasable reason whatsoever. From this premise it is simple to deduce that the pessimists are clearly right, and optimistics are merely ignorant. (not to say that I don't occasionally have moments of reckless optimism which is probably of no good to anyone)

"Murphy was a big optimist".

Here is another one "When I must be angry, I'm not.But when I don't have to be I'm SO ANGRY". There is so many little things wich can angry you. If we can put the anger in Power Plant then we'll not use another electric. Isn't it so.

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and will continue to go wrong until you stop doing whatever it was that went wrong in the first place.

The application of Occam's Razor is an excellent way to reduce the scope of Murphy's Law.

An optimist is someone whe believes that we live in the best of all possible worlds; a pessimist fears that this is so.

It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised.

And a cynic is rarely disappointed.

My father-in-law, a BBC engineer, used to say Murphy's law states that anything that can go wrong will, Sod's law states that Murphy was an optimist.