Context

This line was spoken by Stephen Hawking on his 70th birthday (Jan. 8, 2012).

Who was at your last birthday party? Probably not academics, supermodels, and businessman Richard Branson, right? Well, that's who attended Stephen Hawking's 70th birthday party.

Hawking, however, was unable to attend his own party due to illness, but remotely delivered a speech which encouraged his audience—a.k.a. the world—to always be curious. Good advice. Now we're curious if Stephen Hawking was able to attend his birthday party in a parallel universe.

Where you've heard it

You've heard this if you have ever said you're bored and your wise friend reminds you that there's a whole world out there waiting to be explored.

Additional Notable References:

• Stephen Hawking also encouraged his Facebook followers to "be curious" when he joined the platform in 2014.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

Everyone can use a good reminder that curiosity didn't kill the cat; curiosity can change the world. And maybe a parallel universe or two.