Why the universe obeys any laws at all? is “a really good question. … All of the wonderful things Professor Hawking talked about can actually be described in a very small number of relatively simple equations and then a lot of complicated mathematics. Why is it that the universe is so simple? Why is it that it follows mathematical laws?”

“… One possible answer is that if the universe had been any different from what it is, we wouldn't be here. That is, if the laws of the universe hadn't been what they are or if there were no laws at all, it would have been impossible for life to have evolved. It would have been impossible for us to have evolved to the point that we could ask that question.”

“On the other hand, there is another answer, which isn't actually that far from that answer, and if you're a person with religious faith, as I am, you could answer that the reason we have a universe that follows laws is because God decided to make the universe in that way, because God wanted us to develop the way we have and to evolve in the way that we have; and that is, of course, a philosophical and theological answer and it has more to do with one’s faith than one's scientific conclusions, but it's an answer that I like very much and I don't find it to be very different from the first one.”

Picture credits:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:William_D._Phillips.jpg.