"Suppose the beginning of the universe was comparable to the south pole of the Earth, ...

... with the degrees of latitude that play the role of time. As we proceed north, the parallels (circles of constant latitude), which represent the dimensions of the universe, would expand. The universe would originate as a point at the south pole, but the south pole is similar to any other point. To ask what happened before the beginning of the universe would no longer make any sense, because there is nothing south of the south pole. "

stephen hawking