Stephen William Hawking

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said 'What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.' The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, 'What is the turtle standing on' 'You're very clever, young man, very clever,' said the little old lady. 'But it's turtles all the way down.'

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

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

My goal is simple. It is the complete understanding of the Universe.

God not only plays dice, he throws them in the corner where you can't see them.

It matters if you just don't give up.