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

When I read the books for the third (or was it the fourth?) time I decided it was for me to pick out my favorite line in each book. It turned out to be an impossible task, but I found one line in each book, that for one reason or another, made my hand grab a piece of paper and put it between the pages to leave it there until . . . NOW.
So here's where I put that paper in each of the five books. Where would you have put yours?

Book 1:
"'Yellow,' he thought and stomped off back to his bedroom to get dressed."
(page 10 in the PAN paperback edition)

Book 2:
"'It's not so much an afterlife,' said Arthur, 'more a sort of après vie.'"
(page 76)

Book 3:
"Marvin paused again in his weary circular plod. 'The dew,' he observed, 'has clearly fallen with a particular sickening thud this morning.'"
(page 44)

Book 4:
. . . the problem is I put a piece of paper on pages 156/157, but I can not recall what line made me do so . . . ?!

Book 5:
"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely fool proof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."
(page 102)

Of course my favorite line in all the five books is the very first, which made me not give the book to my brother as a birthday present after all, but keep it and read it myself.

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end . . ."

I love that whole section on the Babel Fish and it proving the non-existance of God. It flows just brilliantly.

I also love the sections about flying and the concept behind it. It's just logical enough to be believable. Fantastic stuff. There's also that bit where Ford is talking about God's personality and the 'brick under a hat' scenario.

But, I have to say, the thing that always makes me smile is, in the TV series, the sight of Arthur in his jammies and dressing gown.

My fave quote, and the one I say most often to my fiancé, is:

"You're a jerk, Dent. A complete knee biter."

I don't know which book it's in, but I do know it was said by the guy flying around insulting every being in the universe in alphabetical order.

It's in the 3rd book - Life, the Universe and Everything. Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged is the name of the guy. Although personally I thought the quote was "You're a jerk, Dent. A complete asshole" but I could be wrong and I can't be bothered to go look it up!

"You're a jerk, Dent. A complete asshole" is from the British version of "Life, the Universe and Everything".
"You're a jerk, Dent. A complete knee biter." is the way it's said in the American edition, which is a little less offensive maybe, but often a lot funnier when it comes to swear words (if you haven't read it yet, check out the part about 'Belgium').

Yeah, the term 'knee biter' as a curse word insult really cracks me up. I'm curious about other changes between the US printings and the UK editions. It would be an interesting exercise to see the differences.

My favourite line is in the first book when Ford and Arthur are caught in the improbability drive
.
"Ford you're turning into a penguin - Stop it"

Genius!