I am not afraid of death, in no hurry to die: Top quotes of physicist Stephen Hawking

The 76-year-old physicist Stephen Hawking passed away on Wednesday leaving behind a legacy of scientific knowledge.

These are a few pieces of wisdom from the scientist:

Life without knowledge

At the time of his death, he was still able to communicate using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech-generating device.

Brain Neurons

Hawking was born on Jan. 8, 1942, which just happened to be the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death. Despite his poor grades, both his teachers and his peers seemed to understand that they had a future genius among them, evidenced by the fact that his nickname was "Einstein."

Initial diagnosis

Hawking fell into a depression – though his doctors advised that he continue with his studies, he felt there was little point.

However, his disease progressed more slowly than doctors had predicted. Although Hawking had difficulty walking unsupported, and his speech was almost unintelligible, an initial diagnosis that he had only two years to live proved unfounded. 

Prediction

Hawking began his university education at University College, Oxford in October 1959 at the age of 17. For the first 18 months, he was bored and lonely – he found the academic work "ridiculously easy"

On Euthanasia

He had difficulty refusing the invitations and visitors, which left limited time for work and his students. Some colleagues were resentful of the attention Hawking received, feeling it was due to his disability.

Black Hole

In 1981, he proposed that information in a black hole is irretrievably lost when a black hole evaporates. This information paradox violates the fundamental tenet of quantum mechanics, and led to years of debate.

Life is funny

Hawking's life is celebrated in the Oscar-winning biopic "The Theory of Everything," based on the memoir "Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen," by Jane Hawking.

Life Spectrum

Hawking, whose books included "A Brief History of Time" and "The Universe in a Nutshell," was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1962.