Guess quote

Stephen Hawking [1942-0] English

Rank: 4
Physicist, Theoretical Physicist

Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge.

Science, Space, Intelligence, Computers, Travel, Change, Life, Women, Alone, Chance, Design, Future, God, Good, History, Time, Work, Anger, Beauty, Brainy, Death, Family, Famous, Funny, Health, Hope, Humor, Knowledge, Men, Morning, Motivational, Nature, Pet, Positive, Power, Relationship, Religion, Success, Technology

Quote	Tags	Rank
However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.	Life, Success	101
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.	Motivational	102
People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.	Anger, Time	103
Life would be tragic if it weren't funny.	Funny, Life	104
Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.	Change, Intelligence	105
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.	Intelligence, Life	106
A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved bowls... saying that it is cruel to keep a fish in a bowl with curved sides because, gazing out, the fish would have a distorted view of reality. But how do we know we have the true, undistorted picture of reality?	Pet	107
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.	Good, Men, Women	108
I would like nuclear fusion to become a practical power source. It would provide an inexhaustible supply of energy, without pollution or global warming.	Power	109
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.	Science, Space, Time, Travel	110
People who boast about their I.Q. are losers.		111
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.		112
Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.	Work	113
We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.		114
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.	Good, Work	115
There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet.		116
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.		117
We are all different. There is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit.		118
If I had to choose a superhero to be, I would pick Superman. He's everything that I'm not.		119
While physics and mathematics may tell us how the universe began, they are not much use in predicting human behavior because there are far too many equations to solve. I'm no better than anyone else at understanding what makes people tick, particularly women.	Women	120
My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.		121
Not only does God play dice, but... he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.	God	122
One cannot really argue with a mathematical theorem.		123
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.	Change	124
Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.	Knowledge, Science	125
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.	Alone	126
Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion.	Science	201
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.		202
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.		203
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.	Computers, Intelligence	204
Women. They are a complete mystery.	Women	205
God not only plays dice, but also sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.	God	206
Evolution has ensured that our brains just aren't equipped to visualise 11 dimensions directly. However, from a purely mathematical point of view it's just as easy to think in 11 dimensions, as it is to think in three or four.		207
I have so much that I want to do. I hate wasting time.		208
I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these 'how' and 'why' questions. Occasionally, I find an answer.		209
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.		210
For years, my early work with Roger Penrose seemed to be a disaster for science. It showed that the universe must have begun with a singularity, if Einstein's general theory of relativity is correct. That appeared to indicate that science could not predict how the universe would begin.	Science	211
Imaginary time is a new dimension, at right angles to ordinary, real time.		212
The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.	Future	213
One can't predict the weather more than a few days in advance.		214
I believe things cannot make themselves impossible.	Brainy	215
Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.		216
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.	Change	217
If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, it would have recollapsed before it reached its present size. On the other hand, if it had been greater by a part in a million, the universe would have expanded too rapidly for stars and planets to form.		218
Even if it turns out that time travel is impossible, it is important that we understand why it is impossible.	Travel	219
I was born on January 8, 1942, exactly three hundred years after the death of Galileo. I estimate, however, that about two hundred thousand other babies were also born that day. I don't know whether any of them was later interested in astronomy.	Death	220
We must develop as quickly as possible technologies that make possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it.	Intelligence	221
I entered the health care debate in response to a statement in the United States press in summer 2009 which claimed the National Health Service in Great Britain would have killed me off, were I a British citizen. I felt compelled to make a statement to explain the error.	Health	222
Some forms of motor neuron disease are genetically linked, but I have no indication that my kind is. No other member of my family has had it. But I would be in favour of abortion if there was a high risk.	Family	223
A zero-gravity flight is a first step toward space travel.	Space, Travel	224
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.		225
There are plenty of dead scientists I admire, but I can't think of any living ones. This is probably because it is only in retrospect that one can see who made the important contributions.		226
I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.	Computers	301
In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind.		302
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.	Space	303
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?		304
There are grounds for cautious optimism that we may now be near the end ofthe search for the ultimate laws of nature.	Nature	305
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.	History, Science	306
We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.		307
There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.	Computers	308
Why are we here? Where do we come from? Traditionally, these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead.		309
There is no unique picture of reality.		310
Observations indicate that the universe is expanding at an ever increasing rate. It will expand forever, getting emptier and darker.		311
The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.	Science	312
No one can resist the idea of a crippled genius.		313
Nothing cannot exist forever.		314
When we understand string theory, we will know how the universe began. It won't have much effect on how we live, but it is important to understand where we come from and what we can expect to find as we explore.		315
'The Simpsons' appearances were great fun. But I don't take them too seriously. I think 'The Simpsons' have treated my disability responsibly.		316
Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena or connections between different observations. Examples include the double helix in biology and the fundamental equations of physics.	Science	317
To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational. The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like.	Alone	318
Earth might one day soon resemble the planet Venus.		319
I think those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their own life, and those that help them should be free from prosecution.		320
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.		321
As Irving Good realised in 1965, machines with superhuman intelligence could repeatedly improve their design even further, triggering what Vernor Vinge called a 'singularity.'	Design, Intelligence	322
The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.		323
I can't disguise myself with a wig and dark glasses - the wheelchair gives me away.		324
When one's expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.		325
No one undertakes research in physics with the intention of winning a prize. It is the joy of discovering something no one knew before.		326
Although almost every theoretical physicist agrees with my prediction that a black hole should glow like a hot body, it would be very difficult to verify experimentally because the temperature of a macroscopic black hole is so low.		401
Sometimes I wonder if I'm as famous for my wheelchair and disabilities as I am for my discoveries.	Famous	402
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.	Relationship	403
I hope I have helped to raise the profile of science and to show that physics is not a mystery but can be understood by ordinary people.	Hope, Science	404
Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That, in turn, will reduce civil unrest.	Science	405
I think we have a good chance of surviving long enough to colonize the solar system.	Chance	406
I was never top of the class at school, but my classmates must have seen potential in me, because my nickname was 'Einstein.'		407
I believe there are no questions that science can't answer about a physical universe.	Science	408
I think it quite likely that we are the only civilization within several hundred light years; otherwise we would have heard radio waves.		409
I first had the idea of writing a popular book about the universe in 1982. My intention was partly to earn money to pay my daughter's school fees.		410
I don't have much positive to say about motor neurone disease. But it taught me not to pity myself because others were worse off, and to get on with what I could still do.	Positive	411
God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator.	Science	412
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.	Computers	413
I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space.	Space	414
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.	Chance, Science	415
Obviously, because of my disability, I need assistance. But I have always tried to overcome the limitations of my condition and lead as full a life as possible. I have traveled the world, from the Antarctic to zero gravity.		416
We are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe.		417
There could be shadow galaxies, shadow stars, and even shadow people.		418
We think that life develops spontaneously on Earth, so it must be possible for life to develop on suitable planets elsewhere in the universe. But we don't know the probability that a planet develops life.		419
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.	Beauty, Science	420
I don't care much for equations myself. This is partly because it is difficult for me to write them down, but mainly because I don't have an intuitive feeling for equations.		421
If we want to travel into the future, we just need to go fast. Really fast. And I think the only way we're ever likely to do that is by going into space.	Future, Space, Travel	422
I grew up thinking that a research scientist was a natural thing to be.		423
Most people don't have time to master the very mathematical details of theoretical physics.		424
I had not expected 'A Brief History of Time' to be a best seller. It was my first popular book and aroused a great deal of interest. Initially, many people found it difficult to understand. I therefore decided to try to write a new version that would be easier to follow.	History	425
Someone told me that each equation I included in the book would halve the sales.		426
God not only plays dice, He also sometimes throws the dice where they cannot be seen.		501
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.		502
Although September 11 was horrible, it didn't threaten the survival of the human race, like nuclear weapons do.		503
I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first.		504
The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we can't solve the equations, directly in the abstract.	Science	505
We should seek the greatest value of our action.		506
Philosophers have not kept up with modern developments in science. Particularly physics.	Science	507
My work and my family are very important to me.		508
I don't want to write an autobiography because I would become public property with no privacy left.		509
I want to know why the universe exists, why there is something greater than nothing.		510
We think we have solved the mystery of creation. Maybe we should patent the universe and charge everyone royalties for their existence.		511
In the past, there was active discrimination against women in science. That has now gone, and although there are residual effects, these are not enough to account for the small numbers of women, particularly in mathematics and physics.	Science	512
I have wondered about time all my life.		513
Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.		514
Theoretical physics is one of the few fields in which being disabled is no handicap - it is all in the mind.		515
Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.	Technology	516
There is no physical law precluding particles from being organised in ways that perform even more advanced computations than the arrangements of particles in human brains.		517
Before 1915, space and time were thought of as a fixed arena in which events took place, but which was not affected by what happened in it. Space and time are now dynamic quantities... space and time not only affect but are also affected by everything that happens in the universe.	Space	518
We live in a bewildering world.		519
Many people find the universe confusing - it's not.		520
Time can behave like another direction in space under extreme conditions.	Space	521
I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself.		522
The cyclic universe theory predicts no gravitational waves from the early universe.		523
It's a pity that nobody has found an exploding black hole. If they had, I would have won a Nobel prize.		524
It was Einstein's dream to discover the grand design of the universe, a single theory that explains everything. However, physicists in Einstein's day hadn't made enough progress in understanding the forces of nature for that to be a realistic goal.	Design	525
Exploration by real people inspires us.		526
Only black holes of very low mass would emit a significant amount of radiation.		601
If you believe in science, like I do, you believe that there are certain laws that are always obeyed.	Science	602
Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world, especially in my field.		603
According to 'M' theory, ours is not the only universe. Instead, 'M' theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing.		604
There is nothing bigger or older than the universe.		605
Up until the 1920s, everyone thought the universe was essentially static and unchanging in time.		606
Many badly needed goals, like fusion and cancer cure, would be achieved much sooner if we invested more.		607
My father was a research scientist in tropical medicine, so I always assumed I would be a scientist, too. I felt that medicine was too vague and inexact, so I chose physics.		608
If I had a time machine, I'd visit Marilyn Monroe in her prime or drop in on Galileo as he turned his telescope to the heavens.		609
Before we understand science, it is natural to believe that God created the universe.	Science	610
To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.		611
I believe everyone should have a broad picture of how the universe operates and our place in it. It is a basic human desire. And it also puts our worries in perspective.		612
Among physicists, I'm respected I hope.		613
I think the brain is essentially a computer and consciousness is like a computer program. It will cease to run when the computer is turned off. Theoretically, it could be re-created on a neural network, but that would be very difficult, as it would require all one's memories.		614
The voice I use is a very old hardware speech synthesizer made in 1986. I keep it because I have not heard a voice I like better and because I have identified with it.		615
I think the human race doesn't have a future if it doesn't go into space.	Space	616
Our minds work in real time, which begins at the Big Bang and will end, if there is a Big Crunch - which seems unlikely, now, from the latest data showing accelerating expansion. Consciousness would come to an end at a singularity.		617
The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.		618
Cosmology is a rapidly advancing field.		619
What was God doing before the divine creation?		620
Time travel was once considered scientific heresy, and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a 'crank.'	Travel	621
Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion.	Religion	622
As scientists, we step on the shoulders of science, building on the work that has come before us - aiming to inspire a new generation of young scientists to continue once we are gone.		623
I am in touch with a company that hopes to replicate my voice. However, they are not replicating my original voice - if they did that, I would sound like a man in his 20s, which would be very strange! They are actually trying to replicate the synthesizer that sits on my wheelchair.		624
Keeping an active mind has been vital to my survival, as has been maintaining a sense of humor.	Humor	625
The Planck satellite may detect the imprint of the gravitational waves predicted by inflation. This would be quantum gravity written across the sky.		626
I'm never any good in the morning. It is only after four in the afternoon that I get going.	Morning	701
Before I lost my voice, it was slurred, so only those close to me could understand, but with the computer voice, I found I could give popular lectures. I enjoy communicating science. It is important that the public understands basic science, if they are not to leave vital decisions to others.		702
It's time to commit to finding the answer, to search for life beyond Earth. Mankind has a deep need to explore, to learn, to know. We also happen to be sociable creatures. It is important for us to know if we are alone in the dark.		703
It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.	Intelligence	704
Theology is unnecessary.		705
I used to think information was destroyed in black hole. This was my biggest blunder, or at least my biggest blunder in science.		706
I can't say that my disability has helped my work, but it has allowed me to concentrate on research without having to lecture or sit on boring committees.		707
There are no black holes in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinity.		708
M-theory is the unified theory Einstein was hoping to find.		709
I'm an atheist.		710
I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws.		711
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?		712
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.		713
Using e-mail, I can communicate with scientists all over the world.		714
I believe in universal health care. And I am not afraid to say so.		715
Maybe I don't have the most common kind of motor neuron disease, which usually kills in two or three years.		716
I enjoy all forms of music - pop, classical and opera.		717
In Britain, like most of the developed world, stem-cell research is regarded as a great opportunity. America will be left behind if it doesn't change policy.		718
All my adult life people have been helping me.		719
My first popular book, 'A Brief History of Time,' aroused a great deal of interest, but many found it difficult to understand.		720
The human race may be the only intelligent beings in the galaxy.		721
I don't have much positive to say about motor neuron disease, but it taught me not to pity myself because others were worse off, and to get on with what I still could do. I'm happier now than before I developed the condition.		722
My wife and I love each other very much.		723
It now appears that the way the universe began can indeed be determined, using imaginary time.		724
I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.		725
There's no way to remove the observer - us - from our perceptions of the world.		726
What I'd really like to control is not machines, but people.		801
I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found.		802
I think the discovery of supersymmetric partners for the known particles would revolutionize our understanding of the universe.		803
The doctor who diagnosed me with ALS, or motor neuron disease, told me that it would kill me in two or three years.		804
Throughout history, people have studied pure science from a desire to understand the universe rather than practical applications for commercial gain. But their discoveries later turned out to have great practical benefits.		805
Computers double their performance every month.	Computers	806
The universe is not indifferent to our existence - it depends on it.		807
So long as the universe had a beginning, we could suppose it had a creator. But if the universe is really completely self-contained, having no boundary or edge, it would have neither beginning nor end: it would simply be. What place, then, for a creator?		808
Perhaps one day I will go into space.		809
I had not expected 'A Brief History of Time' to be a best seller.		810
I have visited Japan several times and have always been shown wonderful hospitality.		811
Wagner manages to convey emotion with music better than anyone, before or since.		812
I have a full and satisfying life. My work and my family are very important to me.		813
I have wanted to fly into space for many years, but never imagined it would really be feasible.		814
As a child, I wanted to know how things worked and to control them. With a friend, I built a number of complicated models that I could control.		815
If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way.		816
My discovery that black holes emit radiation raised serious problems of consistency with the rest of physics. I have now resolved these problems, but the answer turned out to be not what I expected.		817
I want my books sold on airport bookstalls.		818
Some scientists think it may be possible to capture a wormhole and enlarge it many trillions of times to make it big enough for a human or even a spaceship to enter.		819
The fastest manned vehicle in history was Apollo 10. It reached 25,000 mph.		820
It is extremely important to me to write for children.		821
I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.		822
My three children have brought me great joy.		823
You can't regulate every lab in the world.		824
We lived in a tall, narrow Victorian house, which my parents had bought very cheaply during the war, when everyone thought London was going to be bombed flat. In fact, a V-2 rocket landed a few houses away from ours. I was away with my mother and sister at the time, but my father was in the house.		825
My ideal role would be a baddie in a James Bond film. I think the wheelchair and the computer voice would fit the part.		826

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