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
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
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
Maybe I don’t have the most common kind of motor neuron disease, which usually kills in two or three years. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
‘The Simpsons’ appearances were great fun. But I don’t take them too seriously. I think ‘The Simpsons’ have treated my disability responsibly. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
I think it quite likely that we are the only civilization within several hundred light years; otherwise we would have heard radio waves. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
Time travel was once considered scientific heresy, and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a ‘crank.’ – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking
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. – Stephen Hawking