- I think that computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
- To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.
- We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.
- My goal is simple. It is complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is, and why it exists at all.
- Some of our greatest catastrophes have been caused by people talking, and some by people not talking.
- [from A Brief History of Time (1991)] Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe? The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?
- [from "A Brief History of Time" (1989)] However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God.
- By the age of fourteen, I knew I wanted to do Physics because it was the most fundamental of the sciences.
- Women. They are a complete mystery.
- However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.
- [on the Star Trek warp engine] I'm working on that.
- The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.
- The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
- [asked in 2004 what his I.Q. score was] I have no idea. People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.
- The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people.
- Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.
- Intelligence is the ability to adapt.
- One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don't throw it away.
- I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.
- However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there's life, there's hope.
- It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. Its a crazy world out there. Be curious.
- The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognized. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away.
- Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.
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