Stephen Hawking, while struggling with a motor neuron disease, has never let that stop him from sharing his brilliant mind with the world.

However, in a recent interview, he revealed that he thinks about his own death at times. In an interview on a BBC program, he explained that he would consider assisted suicide if he felt that he had nothing else to give to the world.

"To keep someone alive against their wishes is the ultimate indignity," explained 73-year-old Hawking. "I would consider assisted suicide only if I were in great pain or felt I had nothing more to contribute but was a burden to those around me."

He did follow up, though, by saying that he does not see that happening any time in the near future.

"I am damned if I'm going to die before I have unravelled more of the universe," he added.

Hawking was diagnosed with a rare and slow progressing form of Lou Gehrig's disease in 1963 at the age of 21.

At the time, doctors said that he only had 2 years to live, but it is clear that he has been able to beat those odds by far.

At the same time, the disease has rendered Hawking wheelchair bound, without the ability to speak or move independently.

Hawking admits that at times he gets lonely because people are afraid to approach him and he finds it hard to talk to people he does not know.

This is not the first time that Hawking has discussed suicide, admitting that he tried to do it himself in 2014.