Yup, that’s Stephen with the camera around his neck back in 1968, taking part in London’s anti-Vietnam War demonstration.

Earlier this morning one of the world’s great minds passed away at the age of 76, and I’m guessing by now a few of your more pretentious friends have already posted their tributes on social media.

They’re clearly sapiosexuals, which is all the rage at the minute, but enough about social media posturing.

The Guardian have picked some quotes that best sum up the life and times of Stephen, so here are six of our favourites:

• “For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn’t have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”
• “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken-down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

• “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
• “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny”.
• “People who boast about their IQ are losers.”

Paging Mr Trump, come in please.

One more:

• “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.”

Fine, a bonus quote to finish:

• “The downside of my celebrity is that I cannot go anywhere in the world without being recognised. It is not enough for me to wear dark sunglasses and a wig. The wheelchair gives me away.”

Well played, sir. This somewhat advanced breed of monkey nods in approval.

The Guardian also have a cracking obituary on “science’s brightest star“, and this bit stands out:

Hawking once estimated he worked only 1,000 hours during his three undergraduate years at Oxford. In his finals, he came borderline between a first and second class degree. Convinced that he was seen as a difficult student, he told his viva examiners that if they gave him a first he would move to Cambridge to pursue his PhD. Award a second and he threatened to stay. They opted for a first.

Great minds know to get what they want.

[sources:guardian&guardian]