Professor Stephen Hawking Said He Did Not Fear Death

Professor Stephen Hawking, who passed away today aged 76, said he did not fear death.

Hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 1963 when he was just 21. At the time doctors told he had about two years to live. However, he defied doctors living for over 50 and becoming one of the world's greatest minds.

In an interview with the Guardian in 2011, Hawking opened about how living with MND had made him think about death.

He said: "I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first."

Hawking also spoke about his opinions on the afterlife - or lack of.

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail," he said. "There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark."

Hawking was also quoted as saying: "I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realisation that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful."

Tributes have poured in for Hawking, with NASA crediting him saying his 'theories unlocked a universe of possibilities'.

Despite, being reliant on a wheelchair, the scientist refused to be held back by his illness. Opening up about receiving his diagnosis, he said: "Although there was a cloud hanging over my future, I found, to my surprise, that I was enjoying life in the present more than before. I began to make progress with my research."

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