World-renowned physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, died age 76 on Wednesday.
Since his death people have been sharing a lil’ story about Hawking’s one big regret in life.
You see, when Hawking wasn’t vastly changing our perceptions of space and time, he like to, well, he like to run over people’s toes with his wheelchair.
More specifically, he enjoyed running over the toes of people he didn’t like with his wheelchair.
And there’s one person he never got the chance to, erm, run over.
The anecdote about his “special hobby” was first published in his biography, Stephen Hawking: An Unfettered Mind, written by Kitty Ferguson.
It was later retold by Marlow Stern in a 2014 Daily Beast article.
As told in the 2014 film The Theory of Everything, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at 21, and was not expected to live past his 25th birthday.
Apart from being a brilliant mind, Hawking was also a father to three children – Robert, Lucy and Timothy – who he raised with his first wife, Jane.
And while Hawking’s brain may have worked on an academic level some of us can only dream of, he regularly gave his kids the type of advice one can expect from any father.
Speaking to ABC News‘ Diane Sawyer in 2010, Hawking was asked what words of wisdom he had passed down to his children.
“Here are the most important pieces of advice” he said.
“One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
“Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it.
“Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is rare and don’t throw it away.”
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Top Comments
'Running over the toes of people he didn't like', makes him seem like he could be a nasty piece of work, or is that OK because he was a genius?
If you do a bit of digging, there's plenty of stories of him being a bit of a low level dick.
But I suppose it's one of those things we collectively went "you actually contributed enough to the world that we'll tolerate your dickish tendencies."
It would be interesting/fascinating to know what Stephen Hawking was like in his previous life and what or who he'll become in his next re-incarnation.