Stephen Hawking quotes - page 9

One can't predict the weather more than a few days in advance. (Stephen Hawking)
I want to know why the universe exists, why there is something greater than nothing. View quote
Stephen Hawking
What was God doing before the divine creation? View quote
Stephen Hawking
There is no unique picture of reality. View quote
Stephen Hawking
One might think this means that imaginary numbers are just a mathematical game having nothing to do with the real world. From the viewpoint of positivist philosophy, however, one cannot determine what is real. All one can do is find which mathematical models describe the universe we live in. It turns out that a mathematical model involving imaginary time predicts not only effects we have already observed but also effects we have not been able to measure yet nevertheless believe in for other reasons. So what is real and what is imaginary? Is the distinction just in our minds? View quote
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 ... 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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
One could say: "The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary." The universe would be completely self-contained and not affected by anything outside itself. It would neither be created nor destroyed. It would just BE. View quote
Stephen Hawking
Just like a computer, we must remember things in the order in which entropy increases. This makes the second law of thermodynamics almost trivial. Disorder increases with time because we measure time in the direction in which disorder increases. You can't have a safer bet than that! View quote
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. (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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
We live in the most probable of all possible worlds. View quote
Stephen Hawking
Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain lurking on planet Earth, but to spread out into space. View quote
Stephen Hawking
There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
Among physicists, I'm respected I hope. View quote
Stephen Hawking
Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. View quote
Stephen Hawking
Time travel was once considered scientific heresy, and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a 'crank.' View quote
Stephen Hawking
The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no boundary. (Stephen Hawking)
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
If I had to choose a superhero to be, I would pick Superman. He's everything that I'm not. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking
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. View quote
Stephen Hawking