Stephen Hawking

“Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That, in turn, will reduce civil unrest.”

“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 enjoy all forms of music - pop, classical and opera.”

“I was never top of the class at school, but my classmates must have seen potential in me, because my nickname was 'Einstein.'”

“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 se...”

“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 fo...”

“Using e-mail, I can communicate with scientists all over the world.”

“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 i...”

“Women. They are a complete mystery.”

“My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all.”

“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.”

“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...”

“To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.”

“Many people find the universe confusing - it's not.”

“We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.”

“Time travel was once considered scientific heresy, and I used to avoid talking about it for fear of being labelled a 'crank.'”

“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.”

“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.”

“Wagner manages to convey emotion with music better than anyone, before or since.”

“The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.”