Stephen Hawking

“Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.”

“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

“Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.”

“There is a real danger that computers will develop intelligence and take over. We urgently need to develop direct connections to the brain so that computers can add to human intelligence rather than be in opposition.”

“God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.”

“If we do discover a complete theory, it should be in time understandable in broad principle by everyone. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people be able to take part in the discussion of why we and the universe exist.”

“The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired.”

“It is generally recognised that women are better than men at languages, personal relations and multi-tasking, but less good at map-reading and spatial awareness. It is therefore not unreasonable to suppose that women might be less good at mathematics and physics.”

“Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein's general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out.”

“It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.”

“The radiation left over from the Big Bang is the same as that in your microwave oven but very much less powerful. It would heat your pizza only to minus 271.3*C - not much good for defrosting the pizza, let alone cooking it.”

“I think 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.”

“There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

“I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.”

“It is no good getting furious if you get stuck. What I do is keep thinking about the problem but work on something else. Sometimes it is years before I see the way forward. In the case of information loss and black holes, it was 29 years.”

“I believe in universal health care. And I am not afraid to say so.”

“Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.”

“There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may now be near the end ofthe search for the ultimate laws of nature.”

“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?”

“Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in.”

“I used to think information was destroyed in black hole. This was my biggest blunder, or at least my biggest blunder in science.”

“People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.”

“Most sets of values would give rise to universes that, although they might be very beautiful, would contain no one able to wonder at that beauty.”

“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.”