當奧布萊恩問道關于他支持安樂死問題以及他在什么情況下會考慮安樂死時,霍金回答稱："違背一個人的意愿,強迫他活著,是對他人最大的侮辱."
"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."
"只有當我感受到巨大的痛苦,或我發現自己無法再做出任何貢獻,而只是身邊人的負擔時,我才會考慮協助自殺."
But, he added: "I am damned if I'm going to die before I have unravelled more of the universe."
不過,他補充道："如果我在揭示更多宇宙奧秘之前就死了,我會很懊惱."
He is not in pain, he said, but suffers occasional discomfort because he cannot adjust his own position.
目前,他還沒有受到病痛的折磨,只是時不時會覺得不舒服,因為他無法調整自己的姿勢.
O'Briain, a comedian and broadcaster who has a degree in theoretical physics, praised Prof Hawking for his "impressively honest answers, even to the most direct questions".
奧布萊恩是一名喜劇演員兼播音員,同時還有理論物理學學位.他稱贊霍金的回答非常誠懇,哪怕面對最直接尖銳的問題也給出了回答.
He also asked the 73-year-old physicist, who communicates through his famous speech synthesiser, whether he ever finds life lonely.
他還問這位73歲的物理學家是否感到生活孤獨,霍金只能用他那套著名的語音合成器同他人交流.
"At times I get very lonely because people are afraid to talk to me or don't wait for me to write a response," said Prof Hawking, who is currently trialling even more sophisticated communication technology.
霍金答道："有時候我覺得非常孤獨,因為人們害怕同我講話或者是不愿等我把回答寫出來."他目前正在試驗更為復雜的通訊技術設備.
"I'm shy and tired at times. I find it difficult to talk to people I don't know."
"我很害羞,有時也感到疲乏.我覺得跟我不認識的人交談是件很困難的事."
When asked about what he misses about being able-bodied, he added: "I would like to be able to swim again. When my children were young, I missed not being able to play with them physically."
當被問及擁有健全的身體時讓他最懷念的是什么時,霍金答道："我希望能再游泳.我的孩子們還很小時,我沒能親身和他們一起玩耍."
