The Wise Old Bird is the leader of the Bird People of Brontitall. He does not like saying the word "shoe", as he and the bird people consider it unspeakable. The Bird People live in the right ear of a fifteen-mile-high statue of Arthur Dent, constructed by their ancestors.
The "wise old bird" is a phrase which features in the nursery rhyme The Wise Old Owl
- The wise old owl lived in an oak;
- The more he saw the less he spoke;
- The less he spoke the more he heard.
- Why can't we all be like that wise old bird?
The Wise Old Bird appeared in fit the tenth of the radio series. He was voiced by John Le Mesurier who was originally intended to play the character of Slartibartfast.
Read more about this topic: Zarniwoop Vann Harl
Famous quotes containing the words wise and/or bird:
“A wise man will live as much within his wit as his income.... Bear this truth always in your mind, that you may be admired for your wit, if you have any; but that nothing but good sense and good qualities can make you be loved.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Alas for the cripple Practice when it seeks to come up with the bird Theory, which flies before it. Try your design on the best school. The scholars are of all ages and temperaments and capacities. It is difficult to class them, some are too young, some are slow, some perverse. Each requires so much consideration, that the morning hope of the teacher, of a day of love and progress, is often closed at evening by despair.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)