- ‘Black holes ain’t as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole both on the outside and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up—there’s a way out.’
- ‘We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘God is the name people give to the reason we are here.’
- ‘Nothing is better than reading and gaining more and more knowledge.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘No one undertakes research in physics with the intention of winning a prize. It is the joy of discovering something no one knew before.’
- ‘I like physics, but I love cartoons.’
- ‘God may exist, but science can explain the universe without the need for a creator.’
- ‘The human capacity for guilt is such that people can always find ways to blame themselves.’
- ‘The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people’
- ‘However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.’
- ‘The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.’
- ‘Without imperfection, you or I would not exist.’
- ‘However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there’s life, there’s hope.’
- ‘I am just a child who has never grown up. I still keep asking these ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions. Occasionally, I find an answer.’
- ‘One is always a long way from solving a problem until one actually has the answer.’
- ‘To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.’
- ‘It is not clear that intelligence has any long-term survival value.’
- ‘It will take about a thousand million million million million years for the Earth to run into the sun, so there’s no immediate cause for worry!’
- ‘Government works best under the glare of public scrutiny. Absent such scrutiny, abuses occur.’
- ‘I believe there are no questions that science can’t answer about a physical universe.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘Quiet people have the loudest minds.’
- ‘You cannot understand the glories of the universe without believing there is some Supreme Power behind it.’
- ‘People won’t have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.’
- ‘Eternity is a long time, especially towards the end.’
- ‘If we find the answer to why the universe exists, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we would know the mind of God.’
- ‘I regard the afterlife to be a fairy story for people that are afraid of the dark.’
- ‘God abhors a naked singularity.’
- ‘Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That, in turn, will reduce civil unrest.’
- ‘If time travel is possible, where are the tourists from the future?’
- ‘We each exist for but a short time, and in that time explore but a small part of the whole universe.’
- ‘Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion.’
- ‘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. It’s a crazy world out there. Be curious.’
- ‘Science is not only a disciple of reason but also one of romance and passion.’
- ‘We are all different, but we share the same human spirit. Perhaps it’s human nature that we adapt and survive.’
- ‘Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.’
- ‘I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years unless we spread into space.’
- ‘The idea of 10 dimensions might sound exciting, but they would cause real problems if you forget where you parked your car.’
- ‘The past, like the future, is indefinite and exists only as a spectrum of possibilities.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘The universe is not indifferent to our existence — it depends on it’
- ‘Not only does God play dice but… he sometimes throws them where they cannot be seen.’
- ‘Keeping an active mind has been vital to my survival, as has been maintaining a sense of humor.’
- ‘There is no unique picture of reality.’
- ‘My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.’
- ‘There is nothing bigger or older than the universe.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.’
- ‘When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘Work gives you meaning and purpose, and life is empty without it.’
- ‘My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.’
- ‘There is a fundamental difference between religion, which is based on authority, and science, which is based on observation and reason. Science will win because it works.’
- ‘I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.’
- ‘He once said: ‘It would not be much of a universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die.’
- ‘The universe doesn’t allow perfection.’
- ‘Although I cannot move and I have to speak through a computer, in my mind I am free.’
- ‘In my opinion, there is no aspect of reality beyond the reach of the human mind.’
- ‘The thing about smart people is that they seem like crazy people to dumb people.’
- ‘I would go back to 1967, and the birth of my first child, Robert. My three children have brought me great joy.’
- ‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.’
- ‘The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope.’
- ‘Many people find the universe confusing — it’s not.’
- ‘I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street.’
- ‘People who boast about their IQ are losers.’
- ‘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.’
- ‘We should seek the greatest value of our action.’
- ‘It is generally recognized 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.’
- ‘There could be shadow galaxies, shadow stars, and even shadow people.’
- ‘I was never top of the class at school, but my classmates must have seen potential in me, because my nickname was ‘Einstein.’
- ‘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.’