Eternity is a long time, especially towards the end. - Stephen Hawking

Black holes might be useful for getting rid of garbage or even some of one's friends.

Even if there is only one possible unified theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and
makes a universe for them to describe?

"A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At teh end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever, " said the old lady. "But it turtles all the way down!