Phrases From The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Knowing Where One's Towel Is

Knowing Where One's Towel Is

Somebody who can stay in control of virtually any situation is somebody who is said to know where his or her towel is. The logic behind this statement is presented in chapter 3 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy thus:

... a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Douglas Adams got the idea for this phrase when he went travelling and found that his beach towel kept disappearing. In 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -The Radio Scripts', his friends describe how Douglas would always "mislay" his towel. On Towel Day, fans commemorate Douglas Adams by carrying towels with them.

In 2001, after Adams' death, a towel was introduced, in memory of Douglas Adams, into the MMORPG Asheron's Call as a unique item players could obtain.