--- title: Stephen Hawking: Assisted Suicide Would Be Option If I Became Burden description: But "only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute" canonical: https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-05T12:16:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:57:05.885Z article:section: Science og:title: Stephen Hawking: Assisted Suicide Would Be Option If I Became Burden og:description: But the great theoretical physicist isn't going anywhere yet og:url: https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dcf998d81035567/6988532506f2c11d1333a81d/stephen-hawking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Stephen Hawking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Hawking: Assisted Suicide Would Be Option If I Became Burden twitter:description: But the great theoretical physicist isn't going anywhere yet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dcf998d81035567/6988532506f2c11d1333a81d/stephen-hawking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Hawking: I'd Consider Assisted Suicide by [Tara Fowler / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Tara Fowler / People Jun 5, 2015 12:16 PM UTC  Stephen Hawking attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House in London on Feb. 8, 2015. Stephen Hawking attends the EE British Academy Film Awards at The Royal Opera House in London on Feb. 8, 2015.Mike Marsland—WireImage by [Tara Fowler / People](https://time.com/author/people/) ## Tara Fowler / People Jun 5, 2015 12:16 PM UTC [Stephen Hawking](http://www.people.com/people/news/category/0,,personsTax:StephenHawking,00.html) has said he would consider assisted suicide, especially if he felt as though he’d become a “burden” to his loved ones. “To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity,” the 73-year-old physicist told comedian Dara O’Briain in an interview that will air on the BBC, according to [_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/03/stephen-hawking-i-would-consider-assisted-suicide). He added: “I would consider assisted suicide only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute but was just a burden to those around me.” Hawking was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease when he was 21 and has used a wheelchair for decades. Still, he believes he has more to add to the world. “I am damned if I’m going to die before I have unravelled more of the universe,” he said. This [article](http://www.people.com/article/stephen-hawking-would-consider-assisted-suicide) originally appeared on [People.com](http://www.people.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/"},"headline":"Stephen Hawking: I'd Consider Assisted Suicide","datePublished":"2015-06-05T12:16:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:57:05.885Z","description":"But \"only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute\"","url":"https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/","keywords":["Living","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dcf998d81035567/6988532506f2c11d1333a81d/stephen-hawking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara Fowler / People"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4dcf998d81035567/6988532506f2c11d1333a81d/stephen-hawking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Stephen Hawking","caption":"Stephen Hawking","creditText":"Mike Marsland—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910485/stephen-hawking-assisted-suicide/","name":"Stephen Hawking: I'd Consider Assisted Suicide"}}]}] ```