Original artwork, not a still
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is a writer's confession dressed as a joke: the lateness is the point. Adams turned his reputation as the man editors dreaded into a self-portrait, and every novelist, student and developer with a due date quotes it as permission to be late. It lives on as the standard line of anyone who has missed a deadline and wants to look charming about it.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
The line is credited to Douglas Adams, who was famous for missing his deadlines. Penguin's Hitchhiker's Guide fact sheet says one of his best-known remarks on the subject was published in The Salmon of Doubt (2002), the posthumous collection, where he professes affection for the whooshing noise deadlines make as they go by. On the BBC panel show Quote... Unquote, Adams suggested his own epitaph: He finally met his deadline.
Sources (3)
- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: 42 facts, Penguinfact about deadlinesReference checked
- Douglas Adams, Wikipediasection on his writing habitsReference checked
- Douglas Adams, WikiquoteQuotes listReference checked
Context reviewed
