Stephen Hawking

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

“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.”

“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.”

“We are the product of quantum fluctuations in the very early universe.”

“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.”

“The doctor who diagnosed me with ALS, or motor neuron disease, told me that it would kill me in two or three years.”

“We live in a bewildering world.”

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Why are we here? Where do we come from? Traditionally, these are questions for philosophy, but philosophy is dead.”

“The Planck satellite may detect the imprint of the gravitational waves predicted by inflation. This would be quantum gravity written across the sky.”

“I'm never any good in the morning. It is only after four in the afternoon that I get going.”

“Earth might one day soon resemble the planet Venus.”

“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?”

“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.”

“הוקינג מנסה, כפי שהוא מצהיר בפירוש, להבין את הלך־מחשבתו של אלוהים." ~ קרל סייגן, מתוך דברי המבוא ל"קיצור תולדות הזמן”

“אני מעדיף הפתעות. אם מישהו מבקש משהו מסוים, הוא אינו משאיר לנותן חופש או הזדמנות להפעיל את הדמיון.”

“כל אחד יכול להשיג משהו, אם רק ישתדל.”

“לפני שקיבלתי את מחלת הנוירונים המוטוריים, הייתי משועמם מהחיים. אבל הציפייה למוות מוקדם שיכנעה אותי שהחיים באמת כדאיים.”