You know, there was a time when I wouldn't hurt a fly. Then the Borg came, and they showed me that if there is one constant in this whole universe, it's death. Afterwards, I began to realize that it didn't really matter. We're all going to die sometime. It's just a question of how and when. You will, too, Captain. Aren't you beginning to feel time gaining on you? It's like a predator. It's stalking you. Oh, you can try and outrun it with doctors, medicines, new technologies, but in the end, time is going to hunt you down and make the kill.
They say time is the fire in which we burn. Right now, Captain, my time is running out. We leave so many things unfinished in our lives... I know you understand.
[As the Enterprise-B responds to an alert call of two ships hit by the Nexus]
Pavel Chekov: How big is your medical staff?
John Harriman: The medical staff... doesn't arrive till Tuesday.
Chekov: [Mutters exasperation in Russian; gestures to two reporters] You and you, you've just become nurses. Let's go.
[The newly-promoted Lt Commander Worf has fallen into the ocean, after Riker ordered the computer to remove the holographic plank]
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Number One, that's retract plank, not remove plank.
Cdr. William Riker: Of course, sir. [leans over the side towards Worf] Sorry! [Worf rages in anger]
Tolian Soran: Have you ever considered a prosthesis that would make you look a little more... how can I say... more normal?
Geordi La Forge: What's normal?
Soran: "What's normal?" Well, that's a good question. Normal is what everyone else is and you are not.
[Geordi has had a camera implanted in his VISOR, allowing the Duras sisters to see the Enterprise-D interior from his perspective]
Lursa: What is he doing now?
B'Etor: I don't know. He bathed, and now he's roaming the ship. He must be the only engineer in Starfleet who doesn't GO to Engineering.
[Picard tries to talk to Kirk about Soran]
James T. Kirk: [preparing to bring Antonia her breakfast in bed] You say history considers me dead. Who am I to argue with history?
Jean-Luc Picard: You're a Starfleet officer. You have a duty.
Kirk: I don't need to be lectured by you. I was out saving the galaxy when your grandfather was in diapers. I'd say the galaxy owes me one.
[Kirk and Picard take a horseback ride, but Kirk realizes that nothing in the Nexus is real]
James T. Kirk: Captain of the Enterprise, huh?
Jean-Luc Picard: That's right.
Kirk: Close to retirement?
Picard: I'm not planning on it.
Kirk: Well let me tell you something. Don't! Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there... you can make a difference.
Picard: Come back with me. Help me stop Soran. Help make a difference again!
Kirk: [contemplates] Who am I to argue with the captain of the Enterprise? What's the name of that planet? Veridian III?
Picard: That's right.
Kirk: I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim?
Picard: You could say that.
Kirk: You know if Spock were here, he'd say I was an irrational, illogical human being for going on a mission like that. [pause] Sounds like fun!
[Kirk and Picard have defeated Soran, but Kirk is mortally wounded from the battle]
James T. Kirk: Did we make a difference?
Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, yes. We made a difference. Thank you.
Kirk: Least I could do...for the captain of the Enterprise. It was... fun. Oh, my... [Kirk dies]
[Picard and Riker have found the Picard family album and take one last look at the bridge]
Commander William Riker: I'm going to miss this ship; she went before her time.
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives, but I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment - because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived. After all, Number One, we're only mortal.
Riker: [smiling] Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever. [touches captain's chair] I always thought I'd get a shot at this chair one day.
Picard: Perhaps you still will... somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name "Enterprise". [looks at Riker for a beat, then taps his combadge] Picard to Farragut, two to beam up. [the two men dematerialize]
