I had a think about it, and I think Douglas Adams was wrong
#include "stdafx.h"
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{string s[3][34];s[1][13]="h";s[2][16]=" ";s[2][7]="i";s[0][24]="o";s[1][1]="o";s[0][16]="d";s[2][21]="p";
s[2][13]="i";s[0][0]="e";s[2][32]=" ";s[2][19]="e";s[2][23]="g";s[1][22]=" ";s[2][25]="t";s[1][17]="t";
s[1][26]=" ";s[1][4]="o";s[0][6]=" ";s[2][24]=" ";s[1][15]="i";s[1][3]="i";s[0][22]="c";s[0][21]="h";s[2][4]=" ";
s[0][28]="i";s[2][6]="s";s[1][14]="u";s[2][31]="a";s[0][30]="g";s[0][19]="n";s[1][9]="r";s[0][14]="g";
s[2][15]="s";s[1][20]="m";s[0][31]="n";s[2][33]="T";s[0][29]="f";s[1][31]="i";s[0][1]=" ";s[0][18]=" ";
s[0][4]="n";s[0][5]="o";s[0][7]="s";s[0][3]="l";s[0][9]="o";s[1][10]="g";s[2][17]="h";s[1][33]="e";
s[2][1]="g";s[1][27]="i";s[1][8]="n";s[0][11]="i";s[2][9]=" ";s[0][20]="o";s[0][12]="s";s[0][17]="a";
s[1][7]="m";s[1][28]="f";s[0][27]=" ";s[1][12]=" ";s[2][20]="n";s[1][32]="e";s[0][15]="t";s[2][8]="g";
s[2][10]="i";s[2][0]="n";s[2][30]="n";s[0][33]="h";s[2][12]="e";s[2][29]="o";s[2][3]="n";s[2][11]="l";
s[1][30]=" ";s[0][13]="s";s[0][25]="h";s[0][8]="a";s[1][16]="i";s[0][10]="n";s[1][21]="e";s[1][19]="o";
s[1][18]="t";s[0][2]="i";s[1][24]="r";s[2][26]="s";s[0][32]="m";s[2][22]="i";s[1][11]="v";s[2][2]="v";
s[1][29]=" ";s[0][26]=":";s[1][6]="f";s[2][18]="n";s[1][5]="m";s[1][0]="s";s[2][14]="n";s[1][2]="n";
s[2][27]="e";s[0][23]="a";s[2][5]="r";s[1][23]="n";s[1][25]="e";s[2][28]="l";
for(int i=(sizeof(s[0])/sizeof(s[0][0]))-1;i>=0;i--)
{cout<<s[2][i]<<s[0][i]<<s[1][i];}
return 0;}
(Cuthbert Annihilator I think, therefore I am what I eat, Sat 8 Mar 2008, 3:38, closed)

sooo....
it's not 42 then?
(flirting with badgers and back to muttering, Sat 8 Mar 2008, 4:14, )

...
I just spent 3 minutes modifying that code so it would run on a Mac, and I'm rewarded with a one-line quote...
(The Mysterious X, Sat 8 Mar 2008, 6:49, )

It was just a random number he thought up!!

(piston_broke http://b3ta.com/calendar/event/15365, Mon 10 Mar 2008, 12:37, )

but... but... but...

#include <stdio.h>
#define SIX 1 + 5
#define NINE 8 + 1

int main(void) {
    printf("What do you get if you multiply %d by %d?\n%d\n", SIX, NINE, SIX * NINE);
    return 0;
}

( Legionary - My god, Brian, there's a message in my alphabets, Mon 10 Mar 2008, 21:37, )

Interesting
I take it that it works it out like this:

1 + 5 * 8 + 1

And does multiplications first.
(Cuthbert Annihilator I think, therefore I am what I eat, Tue 11 Mar 2008, 21:49, )