Original artwork, not a still
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · 1979
The Guide's cover inscription
Don't Panic.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Adams gives the universe's most useful book the world's most reassuring instruction, then tests it against Vogons, bypass demolitions and the end of the Earth. It is advice, a joke about every guidebook ever printed and the series' whole attitude in two words, which is why it escaped the books onto towels, mugs and the home screens of geeks. It works as a cheerful rule for any bad day, and fans quote it back at one another when things go wrong.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyShow the scene
The words are printed in large, friendly letters on the cover of the Hitchhiker's Guide, the electronic travel book at the centre of Douglas Adams's series. The Guide is introduced in the first novel as having supplanted the older Encyclopedia Galactica for two reasons: it is slightly cheaper, and it has DON'T PANIC on its cover. The phrase becomes the series' running piece of advice, with the narrator noting that the cover offers the best counsel the Guide has for any situation. It follows through the radio series, novels, TV series and 2005 film, and Arthur Dent's battered copy still carries it years later.
Sources (2)
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, WikiquoteGuide introduction and later passage about the coverReference checked
- Hitchhiker's Guide (fictional), Wikipedialead and Entries sectionsReference checked
Context reviewed
