“As the old saying goes, when seconds count the police are just minutes away.”

“Where are the cops when you need them? (Nick)Probably eating beignets. As the old saying goes, when seconds count, the police are just minutes away. (Caleb)”

“Her gun was twenty seconds away, her friends three minutes, and the police five minutes. Her choice was obvious.”

“Will you stop counting!' snarled Zaphod. 'Yes,' said Ford Prefect, 'in three minutes and thirty-five seconds.”

“Every clock is a bomb, ticking away at the minutes of our lives, counting off the seconds one by one before we die.At birth a heart it given a certain number of beats. The clock is counting them off one by one and will not allow a man any more than his allotted share.”

“So when you’re nervous, you count?” “Not just when I’m nervous,” I said. “It’s… all the time. I count the seconds during pauses in conversations. I count the minutes when I’m waiting on something. Sometimes, when I’m kind of panicked or anxious, I count my heartbeats. Something about counting makes me feel like… like I have the power. Like knowing how much time has passed or how many steps I’ve taken from one place to another will somehow keep me in control of the situation.”