And he came up with that quote a long time ago. Before we knew better. Now it's just another stupid quote. It is now far more the fool that says there is a God.
Piezoe is right. Oceans of knowledge exist that humanity is completely blind too. In the face of that profound ignorance, to claim with absolute certainty there is no God, is the height of stupidity, and reveals ones innate bias. The best a rational person can hope to be is agnostic.
All right. I am 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% sure that there is no God. Is that better?
I doubt that Hawking or any other reputable person of science would say that God "did not" create the universe. There's a world of difference between not necessary and did not. Real truth seekers are agnostic. Anyone claiming to know what is currently unknowable is a zealot, religious or otherwise.
You're right. No reputable scientist would say God "did not" create the universe any more than they would say Chuck Norris "did not" create the universe Real truth seekers don't insert God or Chuck Norris into such things as they are both irrelevant and not required. The universe is however understood scientifically and mathematically to be more than capable of creating itself from nothing and you will find reputable scientists supporting that. Invoking Gods in the 21st century to explain the universe is little more than the remnants of a primitive reaction playing itself out and to be agnostic I suggest, is no more than the failure of human reasoning which invites every form of imaginary notion including the promotion of the Tooth Fairy into the role of Creator.