Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. His scientific works included a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking was the first to set out a theory of cosmology explained by a union of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics. Hawking achieved commercial success with several works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general.
Some of the best quotes from Stephen Hawking are listed below.
- “Aggression, humanity’s greatest vice, will destroy civilization.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free.” – Stephen Hawking
- “For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.” – Stephen Hawking
- “God is the name people give to the reason we are here. But I think that reason is the laws of physics rather than someone with whom one can have a personal relationship. An impersonal God.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Government works best under the glare of public scrutiny. Absent such scrutiny, abuses occur.” – Stephen Hawking
- “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Occasionally, I find an answer.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I believe things cannot make themselves impossible.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I have so much that I want to do. I hate wasting time.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “I was never top of the class at school, but my classmates must have seen potential in me, because my nickname was ‘Einstein.’” – Stephen Hawking
- “I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.” – Stephen Hawking
- “If I had to choose a superhero to be, I would pick Superman. He’s everything that I’m not.” – Stephen Hawking
- “If the government is covering up knowledge of aliens, they are doing a better job of it than they do at anything else.” – Stephen Hawking
- “If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn’t turn out well for the Native Americans.” – Stephen Hawking
- “In less than a hundred years, we have found a new way to think of ourselves. From sitting at the center of the universe, we now find ourselves orbiting an average-sized sun, which is just one of millions of stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.” – Stephen Hawking
- “In my school, the brightest boys did math and physics, the less bright did physics and chemistry, and the least bright did biology. I wanted to do math and physics, but my father made me do chemistry because he thought there would be no jobs for mathematicians.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.” – Stephen Hawking
- “It is a waste of time to be angry about my disability. One has to get on with life and I haven’t done badly. People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.” – Stephen Hawking
- “It matters if you just don’t give up.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “It’s the gravity that shapes the large scale structure of the universe, even though it is the weakest of four categories of forces.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Keeping an active mind has been vital to my survival, as has been maintaining a sense of humor.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.” – Stephen Hawking
- “My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit as well as physically.” – Stephen Hawking
- “My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Not only does God play dice, but… he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge.” – Stephen Hawking
- “One is always a long way from solving a problem until one actually has the answer.” – Stephen Hawking
- “One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist… Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Our population and our use of the finite resources of planet Earth are growing exponentially, along with our technical ability to change the environment for good or ill.” – Stephen Hawking
- “People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.” – Stephen Hawking
- “People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Quiet people have the loudest minds.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.” – Stephen Hawking
- “So Einstein was wrong when he said, “God does not play dice.” Consideration of black holes suggests, not only that God does play dice, but that he sometimes confuses us by throwing them where they can’t be seen.” – Stephen Hawking
- “So next time someone complains that you have made a mistake, tell him that may be a good thing. Because without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Some people would claim that things like love, joy and beauty belong to a different category from science and can’t be described in scientific terms, but I think they can now be explained by the theory of evolution.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Sooner or later disasters such as an asteroid collision or a nuclear war could wipe us all out, but once we spread out into space and establish independent colonies, our future should be safe.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Stem cell research is the key to developing cures for degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s and motor neuron disease from which I and many others suffer. The fact that the cells may come from embryos is not an objection, because the embryos are going to die anyway.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.” – Stephen Hawking
- “The universe does not behave according to our pre-conceived ideas. It continues to surprise us.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Time and space are finite in extent, but they don’t have any boundary or edge. They would be like the surface of the earth, but with two more dimensions.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Time travel used to be thought of as science fiction, but Einstein’s theory of general relativity allows the possibility that we could warp space time so much that you could fly off in a rocket and return before you set out. Unfortunately, it is likely that the warping would destroy the spaceship and maybe the space time, itself.” – Stephen Hawking
- “To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.” – Stephen Hawking
- “Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious, and however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.” – Stephen Hawking
- “We are all different, but we share the same human spirit. Perhaps it’s human nature that we adapt and survive.” – Stephen Hawking
- “We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. We cannot remain looking inwards at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet.” – Stephen Hawking
- “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.” – Stephen Hawking
- “We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” – Stephen Hawking
- “We each exist for but a short time, and in that time explore but a small part of the whole universe.” – Stephen Hawking
- “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonize whatever planets they can reach. If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.” – Stephen Hawking
- “With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code.” – Stephen Hawking
- “You cannot understand the glories of the universe without believing there is some Supreme Power behind it.” – Stephen Hawking
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