Stephen Hawking: I’d Consider Assisted Suicide

Stephen Hawking 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.

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 originally appeared on People.com