Star Trek: The Next Generation
(Redirected from Star trek: Q)
Star Trek: The Next Generation is a science fiction television series that originally aired from 1987 to 1994. It follows the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, with the events set about 100 years after those in Star Trek: The Original Series. Four feature films with the show's cast were also produced.
Opening
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Space... The final frontier... These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds... To seek out new life and new civilizations... To boldly go where no one has gone before!
Repeated lines
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Make it so!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Tea. Earl grey. Hot.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Engage!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Data, later.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Shut up, Wesley!
- Worf: Today is a good day to die!
- Data: However...
- Data: Theoretically, it is possible...
- Picard: Thank you, Mr. Data.
Season 1
[edit]Encounter at Farpoint [1.1/1.2]
[edit]- Q: Thou art notified that thy kind has infiltrated the galaxy too far already. Thou art directed to return to thine own solar system immediately.
- Q: Go back, or thou shalt most certainly die!
- Q: But you can't deny that you're still a dangerous, savage child race.
- Q: ...and 400 years before that, you were murdering each other in quarrels over tribal god images. Since then, there are no indications that humans will ever change.
- Q: There are preparations to make, but when we next meet, Captain, we'll proceed exactly as you suggest.
- Jean-Luc Picard: If we're going to be damned, let's be damned for what we really are.
- Data: I am superior, sir, in many ways, but I would gladly give it up to be human.
- William Riker: Nice to meet you... Pinocchio.
- [Data stares at Riker]
- William Riker: A joke.
- Data: Ah! Intriguing.
- William Riker: You're going to be an interesting companion, Mr. Data.
- Q: It is an unknown, Captain. Isn't that enough?
- Jean-Luc Picard: If you'd earned that uniform you're wearing you'd know that the unknown is what brings us out here.
- Admiral McCoy: Have you got some of a reason my atoms scattered all over space, boy?
- Data: No, sir. But at your age, sir, I thought you shouldn't have to put up with the time, and trouble of a shuttlecraft.
- Admiral McCoy: Hold it right there, boy?
- Data: Sir?
- Admiral McCoy: What about my age?
- Data: Sorry, sir. If that subject troubles you...
- Admiral McCoy: Troubles me? What's so damn troublesome about not havin' died? How old you think I am anyway?
- Data: 137 years, Admiral, according to Starfleet records.
- Admiral McCoy: Explain how you remembered that so exactly.
- Data: I remember every fact I am exposed to, sir.
- Admiral McCoy: I don't see no points on your ears boy, but you sound like a Vulcan.
- Data: No, sir, I am an android.
- Admiral McCoy: Almost as bad.
- Data: I thought it was generally accepted, sir, that Vulcans are an advanced, and most honorable race.
- Admiral McCoy: They are, they are, and damn annoying at times.
- Data: Yes, sir.
- Admiral McCoy: Well, this is a new ship, but she's got the right name. Now you remember that you hear?
- Data: I will sir.
- Admiral McCoy: You treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home.
The Naked Now [1.3]
[edit]- Data: Indications of what humans would call... a wild party.
- Data: "There was a young lady from Venus, whose body was shaped like a..."
- Jean-Luc Picard: [frantically cutting off Data] Captain to Security, come in!
- Data: Did I say something wrong?
- Worf: I don't understand their humor, either.
- Tasha Yar: Data. You are fully functional, aren't you?
- Data: [intoxicated by the virus] We are more alike than unlike, my dear Captain. I have pores. Humans have pores. I have... fingerprints. Humans have fingerprints. My chemical nutrients are like your blood. If you prick me... do I not... leak?
Code of Honor [1.4]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: Where are the calluses we doctors are supposed to grow over our feelings?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Perhaps the good ones never get them.
- Data: For example, what Lutan did is similar to what certain American Indians once did called "counting coup." That is from an obscure language known as French. "Counting coup..."
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Data, the French language for centuries on Earth represented civilization.
- Data: Indeed? But surely, sir...
- William Riker: I suggest you drop it, Mr. Data.
- Data: Yes, sir. "Counting coup" could be something as simple as touching an enemy with a stick in battle or taking something from him and escaping.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You speak of a code of honor, but what you are saying now, according to our customs, is called an act of war.
- Lutan: This is not an act of war, but of love! I want Lieutenant Yar to become my first one.
- Yareena: I challenge your right of supersedence!
- Hagon: No woman has challenged supersedence for over 200 years!
- Yareena: The right is mine, and I will have it. Natasha Yar, I challenge you to a struggle to the death.
- Jean-Luc Picard: No! The challenge is unequivocally refused.
- Lutan: Then you shall have no treaty! No vaccine! And no Lieutenant Yar!
The Last Outpost [1.5]
[edit]- Data: [his fingers in a Chinese finger trap] Apologies, Captain. I seem to have reached an odd functional impasse. I am, uh... stuck.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Then get unstuck and continue with the briefing.
- Data: Yes, sir. That is what I'm trying to do, sir, but the solution eludes me.
- Geordi La Forge: My hero.
- William Riker: "Fear is the true enemy, the only enemy."
- Misattributed to Sun Tzu in the show (similar to the real phrase "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" spoken by Franklin D. Roosevelt)
Where No One Has Gone Before [1.6]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: ...where is this place?
- Data: Where none have gone before.
Lonely Among Us [1.7]
[edit]- Data: If the Enterprise were really this fragile, sir, she never would have left spacedock. Therefore, her systems' failures are not endemic to the ship, but are the result of the actions of an unknown adversary.
- William Riker: We have a saboteur aboard.
- Data: I believe I said that.
- Data: It's elementary, my dear Riker. Sir.
- Data: "We must fall back on the old axiom that when other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
- Edo God: [booming voice] State... the... purpose. State the purpose of what you have done.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm Captain Picard, commanding this Federation starship.
- Edo God: State the purpose of your visit here.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We have sent down what we call an away team, to make peaceful contact here.
- Edo God: Do you plan to leave life-forms here?
- Jean-Luc Picard: No. We are merely visiting here.
- Edo God: But you did more at the world you just left. Why have you left your own life-forms there?
- Data: The colony we just planted, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We found that world uninhabited. The life-forms we left there had... had sought the challenge-- at least, that is the basic reason-- had sought the challenge of creating a new lifestyle-- a new society there. Life on our world is driven to protect itself by seeding itself as widely as possible.
- Edo God: Do not interfere with my children below.
- Rivan: They are called mediators and they are needed only in one place each day.
- Liator: The punishment zone, an area that's selected for a period of time.
- Tasha Yar: It's a completely random selection?
- Liator: No one but our mediators know what place or for how long. We're very proud of the wisdom of our ancestors. No person ever knows where or when a zone will be.
- Rivan: And so no one risks death.
- Worf: Death?
- Rivan: By breaking any law.
- Tasha Yar: Wait, explain this.
- Liator: Only one punishment for any crime.
- Worf: Anyone who commits any crime in the punishment zone dies?
- Liator: So, we are not yet as advanced as they are. And since you are advanced in other ways, too, I suggest you use your superior powers to rescue the Wesley boy. We will record him as a convicted criminal out of our reach-- an advanced person who luckily escaped the barbarism of this backward little world.
- Data: They were able to communicate with me quite... I was about to say quite easily but there was nothing easy about it. Fortunately, they stopped short of overloading my circuitry.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You're saying they? So it is a vessel of some sort?
- Data: Definitely not a single entity, if that's what you mean, sir, although they know the Edo worship them as a god thing.
- Jean-Luc Picard: They know?
- Data: They recognize that this is quite expected and harmless at the present Edo stage of evolution.
- Jean-Luc Picard: What sort of vessel?
- Data: It is perhaps not what we would understand as a vessel, sir. The dimensions this one occupies allows them to be... well, to be in several places at once, but they consider that this entire star cluster is theirs. It was probably unwise of us to attempt to place a human colony in this area. Of course, there are 3,004 other planets in this star cluster in which we could have colonized. The largest and closest...
- Jean-Luc Picard: Data! Don't babble.
- Data: Babble, sir? I am not aware that I ever babble, sir. It may be that from time to time I have considerable information to communicate, and you may question the way in which I organize it...
- Jean-Luc Picard: Please, organize it into brief answers to my questions. We have very little time. Do they accept our presence at this planet?
- Data: Undecided, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Data, please feel free to volunteer any important information.
- Data: I volunteer that they are now observing us, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: To judge what kind of life-forms we are?
- Data: No. It is more curiosity. I doubt that they expect us to abide by their value systems.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Do they know of our Prime Directive?
- Data: They know everything I know, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: And if we were to violate the Prime Directive...
- Beverly Crusher: That's not a fair question.
- Jean-Luc Picard: How would they react?
- Data: That would be a case of judging us by our own rules, sir. If we violate our own Prime Directive they might consider us to be deceitful and untrustworthy. You do recall, they cautioned us not to interfere with their children below. What has happened?
- Beverly Crusher: The Edo want to execute my son.
- Tasha Yar: What of Justice to Wesley? Does he deserve to die?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm truly sorry, Liator, but I must have justice for my people, too. Transporter Room, energize. Transporter Room, come in.
- Transporter Officer: We can't energize the beam, sir. Everything checks out, but we're getting no results.
- First Mediator: God has prevented your escape.
- Beverly Crusher: Then your God is unfair. My son had no warning that his act was criminal.
- Second Mediator: We cannot allow ignorance of the law to become a defense.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I don't know how to communicate this, or even if it is possible, but the question of justice has concerned me greatly of late and I say to any creature who may be listening, there can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.
- William Riker: When has justice ever been as simple as a rule book?
The Battle [1.9]
[edit]- Bok: It is a gift from us with which we honor the hero of Maxia.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Who?
- Bok: Why you, Picard, of course. Do you not remember the Battle of Maxia?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm sorry, I do not remember it, DaiMon Bok. Data?
- Data: Captain, he may refer to an incident which occurred nine years ago in the Maxia Zeta star system, in which an unidentified starship-
- Bok: UNIDENTIFIED?! That fine vessel was Ferengi!
- Data: Which... you destroyed, sir.
- William Riker: Your shields were failing, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mm-hmm. I... improvised. With the enemy vessel coming in for the kill, I ordered a sensor bearing, and when it came into the return arc...
- Data: You performed what Starfleet textbooks now refer to as the "Picard Maneuver."
- Jean-Luc Picard: Well, I did what any good helmsman would have done. I dropped into high warp, stopped right off the enemy vessel's bow fired everything I had.
- William Riker: And blowing into maximum warp speed, you appeared for an instant to be in two places at once.
- Jean-Luc Picard: And our attacker fired on the wrong one.
- Bok: Collecting on an old debt.
- Bok: Die well, Captain!
- Kazago: First Officer Kazago to human Riker.
- William Riker: Not now, Kazago!
- Kazago: We do not wish to become involved in what is clearly a Federation matter...
- William Riker: Fine, fine! Enterprise, out.
- Kazago: You should also know that DaiMon Bok no longer commands this vessel. His first officer has confined him for engaging in this unprofitable adventure. Good luck, First Officer Riker.
- [Picard has just been released from Bok's mind control device]
- Jean-Luc Picard: Bok! Where is Bok?!
- William Riker: Removed from command, sir. And placed under guard for his act of personal vengeance. Seems there was no profit in it.
- Jean-Luc Picard: In revenge, there never is. Let the dead rest... and the past, remain the past. Enterprise, lock on. Beam me home, Riker.
Hide and Q [1.10]
[edit]- Riker: Of course a Marshall outranks an Admiral!
- Q:The game will be totally unfair! {he makes Tasha Yar disappear}
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, I know "Hamlet." And what he might say with irony I say with conviction. "What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason. How infinite in faculty. In form, in moving, how express and admirable. In action, how like an angel. In apprehension, how like a god."
- Q: Surely you don't see your species like that, do you?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I see us becoming that, Q. Is it that which concerns you?
- Lwaxana Troi: After the young couple have removed their clothing...
- Tasha Yar: The bride and groom go naked?
- Data: Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.
The Big Goodbye [1.12]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Unless it's followed by?
- Deanna Troi: The double bars indicate an elongated S sound.
- Jean-Luc Picard: And the inverted T means to hold the Z.
- Deanna Troi: Unless?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Unless it's followed by three wavy lines, in which case the Z becomes a B.
- Deanna Troi: Exactly.
- Jean-Luc Picard: What a language.
- Deanna Troi: But you spell 'knife' with a K.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I spell 'knife' with an N.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Earth, United States, San Francisco, California.
- Computer: Time period?
- Jean-Luc Picard: 1941 AD.
- Data: Hiya, Doc. What's cooking?
- Beverly Crusher: You know I had some trouble getting through? Where's Captain Picard?
- Data: He's on ice.
- Beverly Crusher: Pardon?
- Data: He's being grilled.
- Beverly Crusher: What is he, a fish?
- Cyrus Redblock: Kill the woman.
- McNary: So... this is the big good-bye.
- Data: It was raining in the City by the Bay-- a hard rain. Hard enough to wash the slime...
- Jean-Luc Picard: Data!
- Data: Sorry, sir.
- Data: If you had an off switch, Doctor, would you not keep it secret?
- Beverly Crusher: I guess I would.
- Ramsey: You can't rescue a man from the place he calls his home.
- Worf: If winning is not important, then Commander, why keep score?
- William T. Riker: Keep notes. This project might turn out to be of interest to future scholars.
- Geordi La Forge: Really?
- William T. Riker: Think about it. A blind man teaching an android to paint? That's got to be worth a couple of pages in someone's book.
- William T. Riker: What's a knock-out like you doing in a computer-generated gin joint like this?
- Minuet: Waiting for you.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Doesn't love always begin that way? With the illusion being more real than the woman? .
Too Short a Season [1.16]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Age and wisdom have their graces.
- William T. Riker: I wonder if one doesn't have to have age and wisdom to appreciate that, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I hope not, Number One. It would be such a waste of youth.
When the Bough Breaks [1.17]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Data, find a way to defeat that shield.
- Data: That may be impossible, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Data, things are only impossible until they're not.
- Microbrain: Ugly giant bags... of mostly water...
Coming of Age [1.19]
[edit]- Data: Do Klingons observe birthdays, Worf?
- Worf: Klingons are born, live as warriors, and die.
- Data: Then how do you know how old you are?
- Worf: I don't. Do you know?
- Data: I have no age.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mister Crusher? Why aren't you in your dress uniform for Admiral Quinn's farewell dinner?
- Wesley Crusher: I didn't think that would be appropriate.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Why not?
- Wesley Crusher: I failed, Captain. I didn't get into the Academy. I failed you and I failed the Enterprise.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Ridiculous. Did you do your best?
- Wesley Crusher: Yes.
- Jean-Luc Picard: When you test next year, and you will test next year, do you think your performance will improve?
- Wesley Crusher: Yes.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Good. The only person you're truly competing against, Wesley, is yourself.
- Wesley Crusher: Then you're not disappointed?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Wesley, you have to measure your successes and your failures within, not by anything I or anyone else might think. But, if it helps you to know this, I failed the first time. And you may not tell anyone!
- Wesley Crusher: You? You failed?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Yes. But not the second time. Now, you'll do me the courtesy of joining us at dinner. I have to disappoint an old friend.
Heart of Glory [1.20]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Can you filter out the extraneous information?
- Geordi La Forge: No, I get it all simultaneously.
- Jean-Luc Picard: It's a jumble. How can you make heads or tails of it?
- Geordi La Forge: I select what I want to see and disregard the rest.
- Jean-Luc Picard: How is that possible?
- Geordi La Forge: In a noisy room, how can you pick out one specific voice or sound?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I see. Something you learn.
- Worf: Why do you mock me? Why do you wish to anger me?
- Korris: Only to see if it is still possible.
- Worf: It is.
- Worf: My brother, it is you who does not see. You look for battles in the wrong place. The true test of a warrior is not without, it is within! Here! Here is where we meet the challenge. It is the weaknesses in here a warrior must overcome.
- Korris: No.
- Worf: You have talked of glory, and of conquest, and of legends that we will write.
- Korris: Yes! The birthright of every Klingon.
- Worf: Yet, for all you say, where are the words "duty," "honor" and "loyalty"? Without which a warrior is nothing!
- Korris: What are you saying?! Living among these humans has sucked the Klingon heart out of you.
- Worf: Put down the phaser.
- Korris: You are a sham! My words were dust upon the ground. Your blood has no fire! You are weak like them! I don't care what you look like! YOU ARE NO KLINGON!
- Worf: Perhaps not. [shoots Korris dead]
The Arsenal of Freedom [1.21]
[edit]- The Peddler: Whoever you are, wherever you're from, greetings! Welcome to Minos, The Arsenal of Freedom!
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterp...
- The Peddler: If you need a little something "special", be it for one target or multiple targets, we've got it, you'll see it, here on Minos, where we live by the motto, "Peace through superior firepower."
- Jean-Luc Picard: To whom am I speaking...?
- The Peddler: To be totally armed is to be totally secure! Remember, the early bird that hesitates gets wormed.
- Data: It is a recorded message, sir.
- The Peddler: Minos, the Arsenal of Freedom: perfection in highly advanced weaponry. Versatility, flexibility, and everything 100% guaranteed! So lock on to my signal and beam on down! Because we don't just provide weapons...
- Jean-Luc Picard: Shut that off.
- The Peddler: We provide complete weapons sys-
- [the screen goes blank]
- Geordi La Forge: That's a heck of a sales pitch.
- Paul Rice: Tell me about your ship - the Enterprise, isn't it?
- William T. Riker: No... The name of my ship is the Lollipop.
- Paul Rice: I have no knowledge of that ship.
- William T. Riker: It's just been commissioned. It's a good ship.
- Geordi La Forge: Relinquishing command, Captain.
- Jean-Luc Picard: As you were, Lieutenant!
- Geordi La Forge: Sir?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. La Forge, when I left this ship, it was in one piece. I would appreciate your returning it to me in the same condition. Do you concur, Number One?
- William Riker: Absolutely, sir.
- T'Jon: Everything's just kind of... you know... dead, I guess. It's all... you know... shut down.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That's a little vague. What's the computer analysis?
- T'Jon: Uh, the computer's not working very well.
- Jean-Luc Picard: The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules; it is a philosophy... and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.
Skin of Evil [1.23]
[edit]- William Riker: I'm Commander William Riker of the USS Enterprise.
- Armus: I am Armus. Why are you here?
- William Riker: We mean you no harm. We have injured crewmen in the shuttlecraft, and we need to get to them. May we pass?
- Armus: You haven't given me a good enough reason.
- William Riker: Preserving life. All life is important to us.
- Armus: Why?
- William Riker: We believe everything in the universe has a right to exist.
- Armus: An interesting notion. Which I do not share! You may leave now, if you wish.
- Tasha Yar: We're not going anywhere without our shuttle crew.
- Armus: I warn you...
- Tasha Yar: Enough! We have people who need attention. We won't hurt you, but we must help them.
- [Yar tries to walk around Armus, who hits her with an energy blast, killing her instantly]
- Tasha Yar: Death is that state where one lives only in the memory of others, which is why it is not an end. No goodbyes—just good memories.
- Picard: Au revoir, Natasha. The gathering is concluded.
- (Everyone but Picard and Data leave, sniffing a bit)
- Data: Sir, the purpose of this gathering...confuses me.
- Picard: Oh? How so?
- Data: My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself. I keep thinking how empty it will feel without her presence. Did I miss the point?
- Picard: No, you didn't, Data. You got it.
- (Picard leaves; Data remains, contemplating his words)
We'll Always Have Paris [1.24]
[edit]- Unnamed Officer: (fencing with Picard) Interesting move. What technique was that?
- Jean-Luc Picard: The technique of a desperate man.
- Jenice Manheim: Well, so much for my dramatic exit.
Conspiracy [1.25]
[edit]- Data: You are aware, Counselor, that the holodeck can be programmed to recreate an oceanic environment?
- Deanna Troi: Data, it's just not the same. Have you ever gone for a real moonlight swim?
- Data: One can swim in moonlight?
- Worf: Are you okay?
- Geordi La Forge: If I could see, I'd be seeing stars now.
[Admiral Aaron's parasite scampers into Dexter Remmick's mouth and down his throat; as he speaks, his neck bulges]
- Parasite mother creature/Dexter Remmick: (calm, sincere) You don't understand. (voice distorted) We mean you no harm. We seek peaceful co-existence.
The Neutral Zone [1.26]
[edit]- "Sonny" Clemonds: ...you and me can find us a couple of low-mileage pit wolfies, and help 'em build a memory.
- "Sonny" Clemonds: ...you're just about the prettiest lil' old doctor I've ever seen.
[Following their encounter with the Romulans]
- Picard: Our lives just became a lot more complicated.
- Ralph Offenhouse: There's no trace of my money. My office is gone. What will I do? How will I live?
- Picard: This is the twenty fourth century. Material needs no longer exist.
- Ralph Offenhouse: Then what's the challenge?
- Picard: The challenge, Mister Offenhouse, is to improve yourself. To enrich yourself. Enjoy it.
Season 2
[edit]- Deanna: Captain. do what you must to protect the ship. But know this, I am going to have this baby.
- Kate Pulaski: Dah-ta, look at this.
- Data: [looking slightly confused] 'Day-ta'.
- Kate Pulaski: What?
- Data: My name. It is pronounced 'Day-ta'.
- Kate Pulaski: Oh?
- Data: You called me 'Dah-ta'.
- Kate Pulaski: [laughing] What's the difference?
- Data: One is my name. The other is not.
Where Silence Has Lease [2.2]
[edit]- [An alien is impersonating Data.]
- Alien (as Data): What is death?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, is that all. Data, you're asking probably the most difficult of all questions. Some see it as a changing into an indestructible form, forever unchanging. They believe that the purpose of the entire universe is to then maintain that form in an Earth-like garden which will give delight and pleasure through all eternity. On the other hand there are those who hold to the idea of our blinking into nothingness with all of our experiences and hopes and dreams merely a delusion.
- Alien (as Data): Which do you believe sir?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Considering the marvelous complexity of the universe, its clockwork perfection, its balances of this against that... matter, energy, gravitation, time, dimension, I believe that our existence must be more than either of these philosophies. That what we are goes beyond euclidean or other 'practical' measuring systems... and that our existence is part of a reality beyond what we understand now as reality.
- Computer: Ten seconds to auto-destruct.
- William T. Riker: Captain?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Abort auto-destruct sequence.
- Computer: Riker, William T. Do you concur?
- William T. Riker: Yes, absolutely I do indeed concur, wholeheartedly!
- Computer: Auto-destruct cancelled.
- Jean-Luc Picard: A simple "yes" would have sufficed Number One.
- William T. Riker: I didn't want there to be any chance of a misunderstanding.
Elementary, Dear Data [2.3]
[edit]- Geordi La Forge: All right, Data. You solve all the cases and get all the gifts, but what do I do?
- Data: Primarily as Dr. Watson, you will keep a written record of everything I say and do.
- Moriarty: It has gone beyond that little game, Mr. Data. And you'll note I no longer call you Holmes.
- Pulaski: I'll give you credit for your vast knowledge but your circuits would just short out if you were confronted with a truly original mystery.
- Pulaski: Your artificial friend doesn't have a prayer of solving a Holmes mystery that he hasn't read.
- Moriarty: That dark fellow there used the word "arch" and then...I wonder. Arch!
- La Forge:Well, Doctor Pulaski and I had a discussion about whether Data could solve an original Holmes-type mystery.
- Picard: Which you asked the computer to provide?
- La Forge: Yes, with a worthy opponent.
- Picard: Worthy of Holmes?
- La Forge: ...Oh my God...I asked for a Holmes-type mystery with an opponent capable of defeating...Data! That's gotta be it!
- Picard: (under his breath) Merde...
The Outrageous Okona [2.4]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: (to Okona) Now please, follow Commander Riker's commands so our ship can go back to its normal routine.
- [Riker smiles broadly.]
- Jean-Luc Picard: Something funny?
- William T. Riker: Well, the unexpected is our normal routine.
- [After the holographic comedian has demonstrated a Jerry Lewis impersonation]
- Data: So... if you put funny teeth in your mouth, and jump around like an idiot... that is considered funny!
- Wesley Crusher: Say goodbye, Data.
- Data: Goodbye, Data.
- [the bridge crew cracks up]
- Data: Was that funny?
- [Wesley stifles a laugh]
- Data: Accessing... Ah, Burns & Allen, Roxy Theatre, New York City, 1932. It still works!
Loud as a Whisper [2.5]
[edit]The Schizoid Man [2.6]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another.
Unnatural Selection [2.7]
[edit]- Kate Pulaski: Chief Medical Officer's Log, supplemental...Scientists believe no experiment is a failure, that even a mistake advances the evolution of understanding. But all achievement has a price. For one brief glance at the mysterious blueprint of human evolution, the men and women of the U.S.S. Langtry paid with their lives. Their sacrifice is thus noted in this scientist's log.
A Matter of Honor [2.8]
[edit]- Worf: I've studied, and know everything about my heritage.
- William Riker: Then you're just the person I need to talk to clear something up.
- William Riker: It's been my understanding that one of the duties of the First Officer of the Klingon vessel is to assassinate his Captain?
- Worf: Yes, sir.
- Ensign Mendon: Not very hospitable, are they?
- Worf: That is not your concern. Observe your station, Ensign Mendon.
- Ensign Mendon: Didn't mean to offend you.
- Worf: You didn't. Yet.
[Ensign Mendon awkwardly walks the other way]
- William Riker: Isn't that gagh?
- Lieutenant Klag: Very good. You did some research on our nutritional choices.
- William Riker: Yes, but...
[Riker looks down at the live Gagh and sighs]
- William Riker: It's still moving.
- Lieutenant Klag: Gagh is always best when served live.
[Riker looks over at one of the Klingon women smiling at him]
- Lieutenant Klag: Would you like something easier?
- William Riker: Easier?
- Lieutenant Klag: Yes. If Klingon food is too strong for you, perhaps we could get one of the females to breast-feed you.
[The other Klingons start laughing]
The Measure of a Man [2.9]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: If we were not surrounded by all these people, you know what I would like to do?
- Phillipa Louvois: Bust a chair across my teeth, probably.
- Jean-Luc Picard: After that.
- Phillipa Louvois: Oh, ain't love wonderful?
- Phillipa Louvois: [to Picard] I never thought I'd say this, but it's good to see you again. It brings a sense of order and stability to my universe to know that you're still a pompous ass. And a damn sexy man.
- Guinan: Consider that in the history of many worlds there have always been disposable creatures. They do the dirty work. They do the work that no one else wants to do, because it's too difficult and too hazardous. With an army of Datas, all disposable, you don't have to think about their welfare, or you don't think about how they feel. Whole generations of disposable people.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You're talking about slavery.
- Guinan: I think that's a little harsh.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I don't think that's a little harsh, I think that's the truth. That's the truth that we have obscured behind a comfortable, easy euphemism. 'Property.' But that's not the issue at all, is it?
- William T. Riker: [demonstrating Data is a machine by deactivating him in the courtroom] Pinocchio is broken; its strings have been cut.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Your Honor, the courtroom is a crucible. In it, we burn away irrelevancies until we are left with a pure product: the truth, for all time. [points to Commander Maddox] Now sooner or later, this man, or others like him, will succeed in replicating Commander Data. And the decision you reach here today will determine how we will regard this creation of our genius. It will reveal the kind of people we are, what he is destined to be. It will reach far beyond this courtroom and this one android. It could significantly redefine the boundaries of personal liberty and freedom, expanding them for some, savagely curtailing them for others. Are you prepared to condemn him and all who will come after him to servitude and slavery? Your Honor, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. [points to Data] Well, there it sits! Waiting. You wanted a chance to make law. Well, here it is. Make a good one.
- Phillipa Louvois: [after a long pause] It sits there looking at me, and I don't know what it is. This case has dealt with metaphysics, with questions best left to saints and philosophers. I am neither competent nor qualified to answer those. I've got to make a ruling, to try to speak to the future. Is Data a machine? Yes. Is he the property of Starfleet? No. We have all been dancing around the basic issue. Does Data have a soul? I don't know that he has. I don't know that I have. But I have got to give him the freedom to explore that question himself. It is the ruling of this court that Lieutenant Commander Data has the freedom to choose.
- Data: Sir? There is a celebration on the holodeck.
- William Riker: [despondent] I have no right to be there.
- Data: Because you failed in your task?
- William Riker: Oh, God, no, I was that close to winning, Data.
- Data: [considers the statement] Yes, sir.
- William Riker: I almost cost you your life!
- Data: That is true, sir. But Commander... Will. I have learned from your example.
- William Riker: [perplexed] What could you possibly have learned from that ordeal?
- Data: That at times, one must deny one's nature, sacrifice one's own personal beliefs, to protect another. Is it not true that had you refused to prosecute, Captain Louvois would have ruled summarily against me?
- William Riker: Yes.
- Data: That action injured you, and saved me. I will not forget it.
- William Riker: [smiles] You're a wise man, my friend.
- Data: Not yet, sir. But with your help, I am learning.
The Dauphin [2.10]
[edit]- Worf: [about Salia] Do not be deceived by her looks. The body is just a shell.
- [Worf makes a prolonged scream.]
- Worf: That is how the Klingon lures a mate.
- Wesley: Are you telling me to go yell at Salia?
- Worf: No. Men do not roar. Women roar...[besotted] and they hurl heavy objects...and claw at you...
- Wesley: What does the man do?
- Worf: He reads love poetry. [regaining his composure.] He ducks a lot.
- William T. Riker: Fate. It protects fools, little children, and ships named "Enterprise."
- William T. Riker: If it should become necessary to fight, can you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them? [This line references the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles," in which Lt. Uhura says, "We could always throw rocks at them."]
- [Data accidentally activates an Iconian gateway]
- Data: That was not manual override.
- [Data's positronic brain has been corrupted by the Iconian computer]
- Data: Blue, amber, amber, red.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That's the launch sequence? [Data gives a jerky nod.] How do I override the doors?
- Data: Blue, blue, blue
- Jean-Luc Picard: I hope that is not a stutter.
- Worf: Captain, you will be killed.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'll go through the gate.
- Worf: But where will you end up?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Very shortly anywhere will be preferable to this room.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. La Forge, time is one thing we do not have in abundance. [This line echoes a line from "Star Trek: TOS", episode "The Paradise Syndrome", in which Spock says "Time, Dr. McCoy, is the one thing we do not have in abundance." It has become a catch-phrase for Trekkies.]
- [Picard ends up on a Romulan ship]
- Sub commander Taris: I cannot deactivate the auto-destruct, but at least I have the satisfaction that you will die with us.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [beaming out] Not, I think, today, Commander.
The Royale [2.12]
[edit]- William Riker:Looks like the poor devil died in his sleep."
- Worf: What a terrible Way to die!
- William Riker:Rest In Peace Colonel
- William Riker:I write this in the hope that it will someday be read by Human eyes. I can only surmise at this point, but apparently our exploratory shuttle was contaminated by an alien life form which infected and killed all personnel except myself. I awakened to find myself here in the Royale Hotel precisely described in the novel I found in my room. And for the last 38 years, I have survived here. I have come to understand that the alien contaminators created this place for me out of some sense of guilt, presuming that the novel we had on board the shuttle about the Hotel Royale was in fact a guide to our preferred lifestyle and social habits. Obviously, they thought this was the world from which I came. I hold no malice toward my benefactors; they could not possibly know the hell they have put me through, for it was such a badly written book, filled with endless cliché and shallow characters. I shall welcome death when it comes."
- Worf: (holding telephone) Sir. There is a woman's voice asking if we want room service
- William Riker:That's how we're getting out. We're buying this place!"
- Croupier: Six. Six is your number.
- Gambler 1: Hell, my blind grandma can make a six, boy! Come on; roll 'em!"
- William Riker: I thought seven and eleven had value.
- Data: Actually, six is a valid point. Of course, now the objective is to hit a duplicate six before hitting seven.
- William Riker: But the probability of making a six is no greater than that of rolling a seven.
- Data: There is a certain degree of random fortune involved. I believe that is why they call it "gambling."
- Gambler 2: Yeah.
- Gambler 2: So much for your new turkey!
- [Data is at the craps table, about to roll]
- Data: Commander, these cubes are improperly balanced. I believe their final resting position would be a...
- Riker: Can you repair them?
- Data: I believe so. I will make another attempt.
- [Data adjusts the dice in his hand subtly]
- Data: Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
- Manager:The Man has the touch (after data wins) You Broke the bank...Your the foreign investors"
- William Riker:Just take out 12.5 million {the purchase price} and Spread the rest around We Just bought this place Lock Stock and Barrell
Time Squared [2.13]
[edit]- William Riker: Flair is what marks the difference between artistry and mere competence.
The Icarus Factor [2.14]
[edit]- William Riker: The game's not big enough unless it scares you a little.
- Q: You judge yourselves against the pitiful adversaries you've encountered so far: the Romulans, the Klingons... They're nothing compared to what's waiting. Picard, you are about to move into areas of the galaxy containing wonders more incredible than you can possibly imagine... and terrors to freeze your soul. I offer myself as a guide -- only to be rejected out of hand.
- Q: (to Worf) Micro-brain! Growl for me, let me know you still care!
- William T. Riker: Travel time to the nearest starbase?
- Data: [OC] At maximum warp, in two years, seven months, three days, eighteen hours we would reach Starbase 185.
- William T. Riker: Why?
- Q: Why? Why, to give you a taste of your future, a preview of things to come. Con permiso, Capitan. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance.
- (Q vanishes)
- Jean-Luc Picard: Guinan, your people have been in this part of the galaxy.
- Guinan (quietly): Yes.
- William T. Riker: What can you tell us?
- Guinan: Only that if I were you, I'd start back now.
- Guinan: My people encountered them a century ago. They destroyed our cities, scattered my people throughout the galaxy. They're called the Borg. Protect yourself, Captain, or they'll destroy you.
- The Borg: We have analyzed your defensive capabilities as being unable to withstand us. If you defend yourselves, you will be punished.
- Q: The Borg is the ultimate user. They're unlike any threat your Federation has ever faced. They're not interested in political conquest, wealth or power as you know it. They're simply interested in your ship. Its technology. They've identified it as something they can consume.
- William T. Riker: You brought us here, you exposed us to it, and you cost us the lives of our ship-mates!
- Q: Oh, please...
- Jean-Luc Picard: (to Riker) Number One. (to Q) Eighteen of our people have died. Please, tell us that this is one of your illusions.
- Q: Oh, no. This is as real as your so-called life gets. [disappears]
- Q: If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here! It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross...but it's not for the timid.
- Guinan: Q set a series of events into motion, bringing contact with the Borg much sooner than it should have come. Now, perhaps when you're ready, it might be possible to establish a relationship with them. But for now, for right now, you're just raw material to them. Since they're aware of your existence...
- Picard (realising the implications): ...they will be coming.
- Guinan: You can bet on it.
Samaritan Snare [2.17]
[edit]- [Picard prepares to leave for Starbase 515 without giving a reason for his journey and is packing books for his journey.]
- Jean-Luc Picard: Come. Yes, what is it, Number One?
- William Riker: Is something wrong? This trip to Starbase Five One Five is rather unexpected.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Ensign Crusher and I will rendezvous with you on your return from the Epsilon Pulsar Cluster.
- William Riker: Forgive my saying so, sir, but you're being rather enigmatic.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Consider it Captain's privilege.
- William Riker: As First Officer, I have complete security clearance.
- Jean-Luc Picard: This has nothing to do with ship's business, Number One. Suffice it to say, it is strictly a matter of image.
- Wesley Crusher: Didn't you ever wish you had kids of your own?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Wishing for a thing does not make it so.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Did you read that book I gave you?
- Wesley Crusher: Some of it.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That's reassuring.
- Wesley Crusher: I just don't have much time.
- Jean-Luc Picard: There is no greater challenge than the study of philosophy.
- Wesley Crusher: But William James won't be in my Starfleet exams.
- Jean-Luc Picard: The important things never will be. Anyone can be trained in the mechanics of piloting a starship.
- Wesley Crusher: But Starfleet Academy
- Jean-Luc Picard: It takes more. Open your mind to the past. Art, history, philosophy. And all this may mean something.
- Grebnedlog: We are Pakleds. Our ship is the Mondor. [indicates some engineers trying to fix the ship's warp drive] It is broken.
- Jean-Luc Picard: For ambitious Starfleet officers, there are certain costs involved. One must be cautious of long-term commitments, Wesley.
- Wesley Crusher: No problem. Where women are concerned, I am in complete control.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Really? I always rather had to work at that.
- Wesley Crusher: Have you always been so disciplined?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Good Lord, no. [indicates his heart] If I was, I wouldn't have this problem.
- Jean-Luc Picard: (telling Wesley about his early career) My mates and I were at the Bonestell Recreation Facility, which was something of a dead rough crossroads at the time, filled with an assorted bunch of galactic riffraff. When a trio of Nausicaans came in, they were clearly spoiling for a confrontation with a group of fresh-faced Starfleet officers such as ourselves. Well, everyone in the group had the good sense to give these Nausicaans a wide berth, to stand off. Everyone, that is, except me. I stood toe to toe with the worst of the three, and I told him what I thought of him, his pals, his planet, and I possibly made some passing reference to his questionable parentage. And the next thing I knew, all three of them were on me and I was fighting for my life. I was actually doing quite well for a while, too.
- Wesley Crusher: You fought them? And won?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I had this one Nausicaan down in this somewhat devious joint-lock when, unbeknownst to me, one of his chums drew his weapon and impaled me through the back. Curious sensation, actually. Not much pain. Shock, certainly, at the sight of serrated metal sticking through my chest. A certain giddy warmth. In fact I do actually remember that I laughed out loud. Well, it pierced my heart, of course. Well, if we'd not been so near to a medical facility, I would surely have died.
- Wesley Crusher: Really? Then what happened?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Nothing. I was no hero, Wesley. I was an undisciplined, loud-mouthed, opinionated young man who was way out of his league. I learned a very hard, very painful lesson that day, but I learned it well. I hope you never have to learn it the same way.
- [Geordi has supposedly installed new weapons in the Pakled ship]
- Reginod: We are strong!
- Geordi La Forge: You're now armed to the teeth.
- Grebnedlog: Teeth are for chewing.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [before entering the medical facility at Starbase 515] Why do I get the distinct impression that you're acting like some kind of... escort?
- Wesley Crusher: Dr. Pulaski asked me to make sure that you actually went inside.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That woman! She would.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [waking up after the operation] What the hell are *you* doing here?
- Kate Pulaski: Saving your life.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, come on. This is a routine procedure - quite commonplace.
- Kate Pulaski: True. But you are not a commonplace man.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I didn't want you involved in this.
- Kate Pulaski: You're welcome.
- Jean-Luc Picard: If you're here... the entire crew must know.
- Kate Pulaski: You're still the Captain - invincible.
(Picard and Wesley enter to a round of applause)
- Jean-Luc Picard: I beg your pardon?
- Geordi La Forge: Looks like things are back to normal.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm pleased to report that Ensign Crusher's Starfleet exam results permit him to continue his studies on board the Enterprise. Furthermore, any rumours of my brush with death are greatly exaggerated. Is that clear?
- William Riker: Yes, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Then, Ensign Crusher, set course for the Epsilon Sector, warp five. Engage.
Up the Long Ladder [2.18]
[edit]- Brenna: (disgustedly) Are you drunk yet, or can you go an' talk to Dr. Pulaski about the children?
- Danilo: What about them?
- Brenna: She wants to send them to school with the ship's children.
- Danilo: W - what do you think?
- Brenna: I think it's a good idea. So go handle it! (She looks pointedly at other Bringloidi hanging around nearby) And I'm sure there's somethin' you can be doin' with your time...(she turns to Worf) And as for YOU -!
- Worf (irritated and incredulous): What?!
- Brenna: Why'd you have to go an' tell them this magic wall can give 'em more than just meat an' potatoes? Now we'll never get a lick o' work out of them!
- Worf: (still irritated) Madam - have you ever considered a career in security?!
- Brenna: If it's anythin' like babysittin', I'm an authority!
- Brenna: Isn't that just like a man! You make these grandiose decisions, but you never stop to consider the poor women!
- Picard: Miss Odell, I -
- Brenna: You men draw a mug and solve all the problems of the world while the beer goes down, but, when it comes to the practical matters, it always falls to the women to make your grand dreams come true!
- Picard: Miss Odell, you were the one who wanted a new home.
- Brenna: But I don't know if I want to be Eve!
- Picard: It's your choice. If you wish, you can stay on the Enterprise. We will drop you at a starbase, then you can go where you wish.
- Brenna: Leave my da?
- Picard: If this is going to work, these people will need your strength...your guidance.
- Brenna: (under her breath, gazing up as if to heaven) Oh, damn...(she looks thoughtfully at the Prime Minister) What does he do again?
- Picard: Prime Minister.
- Brenna: Hmmm. Sounds important.
- Picard: Oh, it is.
- Brenna: Sounds like he might have more than two coins to rub together. (impish look) Three husbands...?
- Data: Judging a being by its physical appearance is the last major human prejudice, Wesley.
- Troi: It seems, Captain, that you are the early favorite. (to become her mother's husband)
- Riker: Congratulations, sir!
- Picard: I'm not amused, Number One.
The Emissary [2.20]
[edit]- K'Ehleyr: Whoever said 'getting there is half the fun' never rode in a class eight probe.
- Worf: You are late.
- K'Ehleyr: Sorry, had to make myself beautiful.
- Worf: I fail to understand why.
- K’Ehleyr: Worf, we’re alone now. You don’t have to act like a Klingon glacier, I don’t bite… actually, that’s not true, I do bite.
- Worf: We are mated!
- K'Ehyler: I know! I was there!
- Troi: You’re upset.
- K’Ehleyr: Your finely honed Betazoid sense tell you that?
- Troi: Well… that and the table.
- Picard: Lieutenant, I order you to relax.
- Worf: I AM RELAXED!
- Riker: How’d you like command?
- Worf: Comfortable chair.
Peak Performance [2.21]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: (in response to Kolrami's criticism of Riker's "jocularity") Will Riker is the finest officer with whom I have ever served. Don't confuse style with intent.
- Jean-Luc Picard: It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life.
- Data: It is a matter of perspective, Doctor. In the strictest sense, I did not win...(beat, to disappointed groans from the crew)...I busted him up. (they laugh and cheer)
Shades of Gray [2.22]
[edit]- Chief O'Brien: I hope these are the right coordinates. Just kidding, Doctor. I know how much you love the transporter.
- Dr. Pulaski: About as much as I love comical transporter chiefs.
- Data: For Commander Riker's sake, I hope my hypothesis is in error.
- Picard: Unfortunately, Commander Data, your hypotheses rarely are.
- Riker: If you drop a hammer on your foot, it's hardly useful to get mad at the hammer.
- Riker: Deanna, facing death is the ultimate test of character. I don't want to die but if I have to do, I'd like to do it with a little pride.
Season 3
[edit]- Dr. Stubbs: Now the burden is yours.
- Wesley Crusher: Burden?
- Dr. Stubbs: To fulfill your potential. You will never come up against a greater adversary than your own potential, my young friend.
- Wesley Crusher: It's just a science project.
- Guinan: You know, a doctor friend once said the same thing to me. Frankenstein was his name.
- Guinan: Wes, do you think you're gonna get a good grade?
- Wesley Crusher: [sighs] I always get an A. [leaves Ten-Forward]
- Guinan: So did Dr. Frankenstein.
The Ensigns of Command [3.2]
[edit]- Data: Captain. Doctor. I am honoured by your presence, but may I suggest you attend the second concert.
- Beverly Crusher: Why, Data?
- Data: Ensign Ortiz will perform the violin part. My rendition will be less enjoyable.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh?
- Data: Although I am technically proficient, according to my fellow performers, I lack soul.
- Beverly Crusher: Data, telling us why you're going to fail before you make the attempt is never wise.
- Data: But is not honesty always the preferred choice?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Excessive honesty can be disastrous, particularly in a commander.
- Data: Indeed?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Knowing your limitations is one thing. Advertising them to a crew can damage your credibility as a leader.
- Data: Because you will lose their confidence?
- Beverly Crusher: And you may begin to believe in those limitations yourself.
- Worf: This is hopeless. Fighting would be preferable.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Pursuant to paragraph one thousand, two hundred and ninety, I hereby formally request third party arbitration of our dispute.
- Sheliak Captain: You have the right.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Furthermore, pursuant to subsection D3, I name ... the Grizzelas to arbitrate.
- Sheliak Captain: Grizzelas?
- William Riker: (mouths) Grizzelas?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Unfortunately, they are currently in their hibernation cycle. However, they will awaken in six months, at which time we can get this matter settled. Now, do you want to wait... or give me my three weeks?
- Sheliak Captain: Absurd! We carry the membership! We can brook no delay!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Then I hereby declare this treaty in abeyance.
- Sheliak Captain: Wait! Negotiation is permiss...!
- [Picard signals Worf to cut the transmission.]
- William Riker: You enjoyed that.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You're damned right.
- Data: That was the stun setting. This is not. {Data stuns the guards and sends a more powerful phaser blast up the aqueduct.]
- Gosheven: I really was willing to stay here and die for this.
- Data: I know that. This is just a thing, and things can be replaced. Lives cannot.
- Ard'rian McKenzie: Do you have any feelings for me?
- Data: I have no feelings of any kind.
Data then kisses the surprized female Ard'rian McKenzie
The Survivors [3.3]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: We're not qualified to be your judges. We have no law to fit your crime.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We leave behind a being of extraordinary power... and conscience. I am not certain if he should be praised or condemned... only that he should be left alone.
Who Watches the Watchers [3.4]
[edit]- Nuria: That is my home?
- Picard: Seen from far, far above.
- Nuria: Yet we do not fall. I never imagined I would see the clouds from the other side. Your powers are truly boundless.
- Picard: Nuria, your people live in huts. Was it always so?
- Nuria: No. We have found remnants of tools in caves. Our ancestors must have lived there.
- Picard: So why do you now live in huts?
- Nuria (matter-of-factly): Huts are better. Caves are dark and wet.
- Picard: If huts are better, why did you once live in caves?
- Nuria: The most reasonable explanation would be that at one time we didn't know how to make huts.
- Picard: Just as at one time you did not know how to weave cloth, how to make a bow.
- Nuria: That would be reasonable.
- Picard: Someone invented a hut. Someone invented a bow, who taught others, who taught their children, who built a stronger hut, built a better bow, who taught their children. Now, Nuria, suppose one of your cave dwelling ancestors could see you as you are today. What would she think?
- Nuria: I don't know.
- Picard: Put yourself in her place. You see, she cannot kill a hornbuck at a great distance. You can. You have a power she lacks.
- Nuria: Only because I have a bow.
- Picard: She's never seen a bow. It doesn't exist in her world. To you, it's a simple tool. To her, it's magic.
- Nuria: I suppose she might think so.
- Picard: Now, how would she react to you?
- Nuria: I think she would fear me.
- Picard: Just as you fear me.
- Nuria: I do not fear you any longer.
- Picard: Good. That's good. You see, my people once lived in caves. And then we learned to build huts and, in time, to build ships like this one.
- Nuria: Perhaps one day, my people will travel above the skies.
- Picard (softly, but with utter conviction and admiration): Of that, I have absolutely no doubt.
- Crusher: Crusher to Picard. I think we're going to lose Warren.
- Picard [OC]: On my way.
- Barron: I'm here, Mary.
(Picard and Nuria enter)
- Crusher: Prepare two cc's of norep.
(but Mary Warren gives up the struggle to breathe)
- Crusher: I'm sorry.
(Crusher and Barron leave, and Nuria approaches the death bed)
- Nuria: Picard, you could not save her?
- Picard: No.
- Nuria: You do have limits. You are not masters of life and death.
- Picard: No, we are not. We can cure many diseases and we can repair injuries, we can even extend life. (bleakly) But for all our knowledge, all our advances, we are just as mortal as you are. We're just as powerless to prevent the inevitable.
- Nuria: You are a remarkable people, but you are not superior beings. My people must be made to understand that.
(Picard's arm is in a sling)
- Picard: Now, Mister LaForge.
- 'LaForge [OC]: Aye, sir.
(The holographic camouflage comes down)
- Nuria: What is that?
- Picard: A place where we can watch your people.
- Fento: But why?
- Picard: To study you. To understand your ways. Discontinue, Mister LaForge.
(The window vanishes again)
- Nuria: Picard, why should a people so advanced want to learn about us?
- Picard: We were once as you are now. To study you is to understand ourselves.
- Fento: But why did you have to hide yourself from us?
- Liko: Because their presence would affect us, just as it affected me.
- Picard: It is our highest law that we shall not interfere with other cultures.
- Oji: Then revealing yourselves was an accident.
- Picard: Oh, yes, and now we must leave you.
- Oji: Why? There's so much you can teach us.
- Picard: But that, too, would be interference. You must progress in your own way.
- Nuria: So we will. You have taught us there is nothing beyond our reach.
- Picard (with a smile in his voice): Not even the stars.
- Nuria: Pah'kee.
(A little boy gives Picard a woven belt or some such memento)
- Nuria: I wish you good journeys, Picard. Remember my people.
- Picard: Always.
The Bonding [3.5]
[edit]- William Riker: Maybe if we felt any human loss as keenly as we feel one of those close to us, human history would be far less bloody.[references the Star Trek episode "The Immunity Syndrome," when Spock says to McCoy,"I've noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million." McCoy: "Suffer the death of thy neighbor, eh, Spock? You wouldn't wish that on us, would you?" Spock: "It might have rendered your history a bit less bloody."]
Booby Trap [3.6]
[edit]- Picard: It is exactly as they left it, Number One. In the bottle. [seeing his confusion]... The ship in the bottle. [further confusion] Good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles when they were boys?
- Worf: I did not play with toys.
- Data: I was never a boy.
- O'Brien: [brightly] I did, sir.
- [The others all look at O'Brien for a moment]
- Picard: Thank you, Mister O'Brien. Proceed.
- [O'Brien beams Picard, Worf, and Data to the alien vessel. After the sequence is complete, he notices Riker, still staring at him.]
- O'Brien: [defensively] I did! I really did! Ships in bottles? Great fun!
- Dr. Beverly Crusher: Lieutenant, I understand your feelings about the Romulans, but this is not the time or the place.
- Worf: If you had seen them kill your parents, you would understand, Doctor. It is always the time and the place for those feelings.
- Beverly Crusher: This Romulan didn't murder your parents. And you are the only one who can save his life.
- Worf: Then he will die.
- Bochra: [referring to Geordi's blindness] How did this happen?
- Geordi La Forge: I was born that way.
- Bochra: And your parents let you live?
- Geordi La Forge: What kind of question is that! Of course they let me live.
- Bochra: No wonder your race is weak. You waste time and resources on defective children.
- Bochra: I have no more wish to die than you do.
- Geordi La Forge: Bochra, there are times when it is necessary to die for one's ideals... do you believe this is one of those times?
- [Bochra thinks, then lowers his disruptor.]
- Geordi La Forge: Let's go find that beacon.
- Bochra: Do all humans give up so easily?
- Geordi La Forge: Bochra, we're lost. Unless you've got something that can smell neutrinos.
- Bochra: We have the sensor device you are carrying.
- Geordi La Forge: Tricorder? It's not designed to detect neutrinos.
- Bochra: Your eye device does. Connect them.
- Geordi La Forge: That's crazy. The devices aren't compatible, it would be impossible to get an accurate reading... wait a minute. Wait a minute. I wouldn't need to get an accurate reading. I'd just need it to point us in the right direction, a neutrino geiger counter...! [sighs] It's still impossible.
- Bochra: Why?
- Geordi La Forge: Because I can't see! Adapting the devices is delicate work, you can't do it by hand.
- Bochra: Then I will be your eyes.
- DaiMon Goss: My name is DaiMon Goss and these are my counsels, Kol and Dr Aridor. We'll need chairs.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm Captain Picard of the Enterprise. I am serving as host for these proceedings.
- DaiMon Goss: Good. Then see to it we get some chairs.
- Picard: Let me explain.
- DaiMon Goss: Fine, fine, just have your Klingon servant get us some chairs.
- Worf: I am in charge of security!
- DaiMon Goss: Then who gets the chairs?
- Geordi La Forge: You know, if this doesn't work, the thought of spending the rest of my life in here is none too appealing.
- Data: There is a bright side, Geordi. You will have me to talk to.
The Vengeance Factor [3.9]
[edit]- Data: Captain, I am detecting life readings from the planet surface, as well as several small areas of thermal radiation and carbon dioxide emissions, indicative of combustion.
- Wesley Crusher: Campfires, Data.
- Data: Is that not what I said?"
- Riker: Yuta, you're an excellent chef but you speak in riddles.
- Riker: Fifty-three years...and she hasn't aged in a day.
- Worf: Your ambushes would be more successful if you bathed more often!
The Defector [3.10]
[edit]- Jarok: How do you allow Klingon peta'Q to walk around in a Starfleet uniform?
- Worf: You are lucky this is not a Klingon ship. We know how to deal with spies.
- Jarok: Remove this tohzah from my sight!
- Riker:Your knowledge of Klingon curses is impressive. But, as a Romulan might say, only a veruul would use such language in public.
- Jarok: Oh, what a fool I've been, to go looking for courage in the land of cowards!
- Commander Tomalak: I expected more than an idle threat from you, Picard.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Then you shall have it! Mr. Worf?
- Worf: Aye, sir!
- [Picard's secret backup of cloaked Klingon warbirds has materialized surrounding the Romulans]
- Worf: Klingon warships, armed and ready, sir!
- [Tomalak shows a look of shock.]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What shall it be, Tomalak?
- Commander Tomalak: You will still not survive our assault.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: And you will not survive ours. Shall we die together?
- Jarok: I did it for nothing!
The Hunted [3.11]
[edit]- [Picard reports that the Angosian fugitive has been captured.]
- Prime Minister Nayrok: Do not relax your security for an instant, Captain. He is extremely violent, and very cunning, as you already know.
- Jean-Luc Picard: A matter of internal security: the age-old cry of the oppressor.
- [Worf catches Danar in a clever head-fake scheme.]
- Worf: Danar! You are cunning... you must have Klingon blood.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We have everything we need for our report. Your prisoner has been returned to you. You have a decision to make: either try to force them back or welcome them home. In your own words, this is not our affair. We cannot interfere with the natural course of your society's development and I'd say it's likely to develop significantly during the next several minutes.
- William T. Riker: Success, Captain?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Number One, note in your report that if the government of Angosia survives the night, we will offer Federation assistance in the efforts to reprogram their veterans.
- William T. Riker: And if the government doesn't survive?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I have a feeling they will choose to.
The High Ground [3.12]
[edit]- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: History has shown us that strength may be useless when faced with terrorism.
- Alexana Devos: In a world where children blow up children, everyone's a threat.
- Lt Cmdr. Data: [on the transport device of the terrorists] Captain, anyone who is willing to transport in this manner would suffer significant internal damage that could be detected.
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: It sounds as though they may require the services of a doctor.
- Kyril Finn: You added the chair, Captain, I am just making you sit in it.
- Dr. Beverly Crusher: He's prepared to kill you.
- Jean-Luc Picard: An excellent reason to escape.
- Lt Cmdr. Data: But if that is so, Captain, why are their methods so often successful? I've been reviewing the history of armed rebellion, and it appears that terrorism is an effective way to promote political change.
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, it can be. But I have never subscribed to the theory that political power flows from the barrel of a gun.
- Lt Cmdr. Data: Yet there are numerous examples when it was successful: the independence of the Mexican state from Spain, the Irish Unification of 2024, and the Kenzie Rebellion.
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, I am aware of them.
- Lt Cmdr. Data: Then would it be accurate to say that terrorism is acceptable, when all options for peaceful settlement have been foreclosed?
- Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Data, these are questions that mankind has been struggling with throughout history. Your confusion is… only Human.
- [After Q appears on the bridge naked]
- Picard: Q!
- Q: [playfully mocking his embarrassment] Red alert!
- Q: And since I was given only a fraction of a second to mull, I chose this, and asked them to bring me here.
- Deanna Troi: Why?
- Q: Because in all the universe, you are the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc.
- Q: I have no powers! Q the ordinary!
- Picard: Q the liar! Q the misanthrope!
- Q: Q the miserable, Q the desperate! What must I do to convince you people?
- Worf: Die!
- Q: Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately?
- Q: (to Worf) I can't disappear any more than you could win a beauty contest.
- Q: If I ask a very simple question, do you think you might be able to answer it without it troubling your intellect too much? (He enters the cell) Ready? Here goes. Would I permit you to lock me away if I still had all my powers?
- Worf: You have fooled us too often, Q.
- Q: Perspicacity incarnate! Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of the boy who cried Worf.
- Q: Can I have a Starfleet uniform? What are you looking at?
- Data: I was considering the possibility that you are telling the truth, that you really are human.
- Q: It's the ghastly truth, Mr. Data. I can now stub my toe with the best of them.
- Data: An irony. It means that you have achieved in disgrace what I have always aspired to be.
- Q: It's easy. Just change the gravitational constant of the universe.
- Q: I'm not good in groups. It's hard to work in groups when you're omnipotent.
- Q: Dr Crusher, Starfleet have sent you into exile again.
- Q: Your bedside manner is admirable, Doctor. I'm sure your patients must recover quickly... (sotto voce) just to get away from you.
- Q: I'll have 10 chocolate sundaes.
- Data: I have never seen anyone eat 10 chocolate sundaes.
- Q: I'm in a really bad mood. And since I've never eaten before, I should be very hungry.
- Q (with foreboding as Guinan enters Ten-Forward): This is not a moment I've been looking forward to.
- Guinan: I hear they drummed you out of the Continuum.
- Q: I like to think of it as a significant career change.
- Guinan (sardonic): Just one of the boys, eh?
- Q: One of the boys with an IQ of 2005.
- Data: The Captain and many of the crew are not yet convinced he is truly human.
- Guinan: Really?
- [She picks up a fork and stabs Q's hand with it.]
- Q: AAAAAHHHH!!!
- Guinan (coolly): Seems human enough to me.
- Q: The Calamarain are not very hospitable creatures. They exist as swirls of ionised gas.
- Picard: What did you do to them, Q?
- Q: Nothing bizarre, nothing grotesque.
- Riker: You tormented them.
- Q: A subjective term, Riker. One creature's torment, is another creature's delight. They simply have no sense of humour, a character flaw with which you can personally identify.
- Riker: I say we turn him over to them.
- Q: Oh, I take it back. You do have a sense of humour. A dreadful one at that.
- Riker: I'm serious.
- Q: I wasn't the one who misplaced the entire Deltivid Asteroid Belt!
- Q: This is getting on my nerves, now that I have them!
- Q: All right, everyone, this is what we're going to be doing.
- LaForge: Q, everybody already knows what they're going to do, except for you, Now here's what I need.
- Q: La Forge, obviously my knowledge and experience far exceed yours by about a billion times. So, if you'll just step aside gracefully.
- LaForge: Q, your experience will be most valuable to me if you can manually control the field integrity.
- Q: Don't be foolish. That would be a waste of my talents.
- LaForge: Q, get to the controls or get the hell out of here! Data, you're my liaison to the Bridge. I'll need you with me.
- Q: Who does he think he is, giving me orders?
- Data: Geordi thinks he is in command here...and he is correct.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Q, you exceed your own standards for self-preoccupation.
- Picard: [After Q stole a shuttle] This goes against my better judgment. Transporter Room 3, lock onto Shuttle 1 and beam it back into its bay.
- Crewman: Aye, sir.
- Picard: [after Riker gives him a disapproving look] It's a perfectly good shuttlecraft!
- Riker: [After Q gives him 2 attractive women] I don't need your fantasy women!
- Q: Oh, you're so stolid! You weren't like that before the beard.
A Matter of Perspective [3.14]
[edit]Yesterday's Enterprise [3.15]
[edit]- [Guinan gives Worf a small glass of deep purple liquid]
- Guinan: All right, try this.
- Worf: What is it?
- Guinan: Just try it.
- [Worf drinks. After a moment, he looks at the glass, astonished, then up at Guinan]
- Guinan: You see? It's an Earth drink. Prune juice.
- [looking at the glass appreciatively]
- Worf: [awestruck] A warrior's drink.
- Jean-Luc Picard: How can I ask them to sacrifice themselves based solely on your intuition?
- Guinan: I don't know. But I do know that this is a mistake. Every fiber in my being says this is a mistake. I can't explain it to myself, so I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'm right.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?
- Guinan: I suppose I am.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Not good enough, damn it, not good enough! I will not ask them to die!
- Guinan: 40 billion people have already died. This war is not supposed to be happening. You've got to send those people back to correct this.
- Jean-Luc Picard: And what is to guarantee that if they go back, they will succeed? Every instinct is telling me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile!
- Guinan: We've known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone, or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This timeline must not be allowed to continue. Now, I've told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it.
- Rachel Garrett: To be honest with you, Picard... a significant number of my crew members have expressed the desire to return, even knowing the odds. Some because they can't bear to live without their loved ones; some because they don't like the idea of slipping out in the middle of a fight. But I have told them that, in the here and now the Federation needs another ship against the Klingons, and we'd better get used to being in the here and now.
- Jean-Luc Picard: But, if you go back, it could be a great deal more helpful. The war is going very badly for the Federation... far worse than is generally known. Starfleet Command believes that defeat is inevitable. Within six months, we may have no choice but to surrender.
- Rachel Garrett: And you're saying that all this may be a result of our arrival here?
- Jean-Luc Picard: One more ship will make no difference in the here and now, but 22 years ago, one ship could have stopped this war before it started.
- Rachel Garrett: Mr. Castillo.
- Richard Castillo: Yes, Captain.
- Rachel Garrett: Inform the crew we're going back.
- Richard Castillo: Yes, Captain.
- Rachel Garrett: The Romulans will get a good fight. We'll make it one for the history books.
- Guinan: Can I get you something, Tasha?
- Tasha Yar: Guinan, I have to know something. What happens to me in the other time line?
- Guinan: I don't have alternate biographies of the crew. As I said to the captain, it's just a feeling.
- Tasha Yar: But there's something more when you look at me, isn't there? I can see it in your eyes, Guinan. We've known each other too long.
- Guinan: We weren't meant to know each other at all! At least...that's what I sense when I look at you. Tasha, you're not supposed to be here.
- Tasha Yar: Where am I supposed to be?
- Guinan: Dead.
- Tasha Yar: Do you know how?
- Guinan: No. But I do know it was an empty death. A death without purpose.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Come. Yes, Lieutenant?
- Tasha Yar: Captain, I request a transfer to the Enterprise-C.
- Jean-Luc Picard: For what reason?
- Tasha Yar: They need someone at Tactical.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We need you here.
- Tasha Yar: I'm not supposed to be here, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Sit down, Lieutenant. What did she say to you?
- Tasha Yar: I don't belong here, sir. I'm supposed to be...dead.
- Jean-Luc Picard: She felt it necessary to reveal that to you?
- Tasha Yar: I felt it was necessary.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I see. You realise that it is very possible the Enterprise-C will fail. We will continue in this time line, in which case your life, hopefully, will continue for a long while.
- Tasha Yar: I know how important it is that they don't fail, Captain. That's why I'm requesting this transfer.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You don't belong on that ship, Lieutenant.
- Tasha Yar: No, Captain Garrett belongs on that ship. But she's dead. And I think there's a certain logic in this request.
- Jean-Luc Picard: There's no logic in this at all! Whether they succeed or not, the Enterprise-C will be destroyed!
- Tasha Yar: But Captain, at least with someone at Tactical they will have a chance to defend themselves well. It may be a matter of seconds or minutes, but those could be the minutes that change history. Guinan says I died a senseless death in the other time line. I didn't like the sound of that, Captain. I've always known the risks that come with a Starfleet uniform. If I'm to die in one, I'd like my death to count for something.
- Jean-Luc Picard (after a thoughtful pause): Lieutenant...permission granted.
- Tasha Yar: Thank you, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: (prior to battle) Attention all hands! As you know, we could outrun the Klingon vessels, but we must protect the Enterprise-C until she re-enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed. Let's make sure that history never forgets the name Enterprise.
- Klingon: Federation Ship Enterprise. Surrender and prepare to be boarded.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [grimly] That'll be the day.
- Guinan: Geordi, tell me about Tasha.
The Offspring [3.16]
[edit]- Data: Doctor? I require your advice as a successful parent.
- Crusher: Well, thank you, Data. I'd like to think I was. Well, please sit down. How's Lal?
- Data: Lal is realizing she is not the same as other children.
- Crusher: Is it lonely for her?
- Data: She does not feel the emotion of loneliness, but she can observe how isolated she is from the others. She wishes to be more like them. I do not know how to help her. Lal is passing into sentience. It is perhaps the most difficult stage of her development.
- Crusher: When Wesley was growing up, he was an extraordinarily bright boy, but he had a hard time making friends. I think the other children were a little intimidated by him.
- Data: That is precisely what happened to Lal in school. How did you help him?
- Crusher: Well, first I went back to my own childhood and remembered how painful it was for me. Because I remember a time when I wasn't very popular either. And when I told that to Wesley, it made him feel a little better. He knew I understood what he was going through.
- Data: I have not told Lal how difficult it was for me to assimilate. I did not wish it to discourage her. Perhaps this was an error of judgement.
- Crusher: You didn't have anyone experienced to help you through sentience. She at least has you. Just help her realise that she's not alone, and be there to nurture her when she needs love and attention.
- Data: I can give her attention, Doctor. But I am incapable of giving her love. (Data leaves)
- Crusher (softly thoughtful): Now why do I find that so hard to believe?
- Data: Then he is questioning my ability as a parent.
- Jean-Luc Picard: In a manner of speaking.
- Data: Does the Admiral have children, sir?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, I believe he does, Data. Why?
- Data: I am forced to wonder how much experience he had as a parent when his first child was born.
(A couple by the far wall in Ten-Forward are gazing into each others eyes and holding hands)
- Guinan: You see?
- Lal: What are they doing?
- Guinan: It's called flirting.
- Lal: They seem to be communicating telepathically.
- Guinan (wryly amused): They're both thinking the same thing, if that's what you mean.
(the man and woman kiss)
- Lal: (alarmed) He is biting that female!
- Lal: I watch them and I can do the things they do but I will never feel the emotions. I'll never know love.
- Data: It is a limitation we must learn to accept, Lal.
- Lal: Then why do you still try to emulate humans? What purpose does it serve except to remind you that you are incomplete?
- Data: I have asked myself that many times as I have struggled to be more human - until I realised it is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be more than we are, Lal. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards.
- Lal: You are wise, Father.
- Data: It is the difference between knowledge and experience.
- Lal: I learned today that humans like to hold hands. It is a symbolic gesture of affection.
(They hold hands)
- Data: Lal is my child. You ask that I volunteer to give her up. I cannot. It would violate every lesson I have learned about human parenting. I have brought a new life into this world, and it is my duty, not Starfleet's, to guide her through these difficult steps to maturity. To support her as she learns. To prepare her to be a contributing member of society. No one can relieve me from that obligation. And I cannot ignore it. I am...her father.
- Jean-Luc Picard: There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their sentience, but ignore their personal liberties and freedom. Order a man to turn his child over to the state? Not while I'm his captain.
- Troi: Come in.
(Lal enters, obviously upset)
- Troi: Hello, Lal. How are you?
- Lal: Troi. Admiral. Admiral. An admiral from Starfleet has come to take me away, Troi. I am scared.
- Troi (stunned as she realises she can actually feel Lal's fear): You are scared, aren't you?
- Lal: I feel it. How is this possible?
- Troi: I don't know.
- Lal: This is what it means to feel. This is what it means to feel.
- [A shaken Admiral Haftel exits Data's laboratory as Data is trying to save Lal.]
- Admiral Haftel: His hands were moving faster than I could see, trying to stay ahead of each breakdown. He refused to give up. He was remarkable. It just - wasn't meant to be.
- Lal: I love you, father.
- Data: I wish I could feel it with you.
- Lal: Then I will feel it for both of us.
- Lal: Thank you for my life.
Sins of the Father [3.17]
[edit]- K'mpec: (high-ranking Klingon) This is not the Federation, Picard. If you defy an order of the High Council, the alliance with the Federation could fall to dust.
- Jean-Luc Picard: The alliance with the Federation is not based on lies, K'mpec. Protect your secrets if you must, but you will not sacrifice these men.
- Duras (Klingon): This is not your world, human. You do not command here.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm not here to command.
- Duras: Then you must be ready to fight. Something Starfleet does not teach you.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You may test that assumption at your convenience.
Allegiance [3.18]
[edit]- Kova Tholl: It's edible, but I wouldn't call it food.
- Picard's Look-Alike: You're destroying yourself and anyone who is foolish enough to listen to you!
- Riker: You've shown none of the concern that Captain Picard would for the safety of his ship, the welfare of his crew.
Captain's Holiday [3.19]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Is the entire crew aware of this little scheme to send me off on holiday?
- William Riker: I believe there are two ensigns stationed on deck 39 who know nothing about it.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Will you at least try to stay out of trouble?
- Vash: I always try.
- Data: "And is that the purpose of existence? To care for someone?"
- Data: "Through their joining they have been healed. Grief was transmuted to joy, loneliness to belonging."
Hollow Pursuits [3.21]
[edit]- Reginald Barclay: I mean I am the guy who writes down things to remember to say when there is a party. And then when he finally gets there he winds up alone, in the corner, trying to look... comfortable examining a potted plant.
- Geordi La Forge: You're just shy.
- Reginald Barclay: Sounds as if it's nothing serious, doesn't it? You can't know.
- Reginald Barclay: Delete all programs filed under 'Reginald Barclay'...(the computer gives audio acknowledgement, and then he grins slyly)...except program 9.
The Most Toys [3.22]
[edit]- William Riker: For an android with no feelings, he sure managed to evoke them in others.
- Fajo: That's all you have to do, go ahead. Fire. If only you could feel rage over Varria's death. If only you could feel a need for revenge, then maybe you could fire. But you're just an android. You can't feel anything, can you? It's just another interesting intellectual puzzle for you, another of life's curiosities.
- Data: [to himself] I cannot permit this to continue.
- [The transporter beam transports Data as he raises his weapon]
- [As Commander Data is transported back aboard the Enterprise, a weapon is detected in a state of discharge and deactivated]
- Data: [handing his weapon to Riker] A Varon-T disruptor. It belongs to Fajo.
- Riker: Mr O'Brien says the weapon was in a state of discharge.
- Data: Perhaps something occurred during transport, Commander.
- [Data is speaking to Fajo, now being held in the brig]
- Data: You have lost everything you value.
- Fajo: It must give you great pleasure.
- Data: No, sir, it does not. I do not feel pleasure. I am only an android.
- William Riker: Is it my imagination, or have tempers become a little frayed on the ship lately?
- Worf: I hadn't noticed.
- [Riker and Worf walk into Ten-Forward, where a large bar fight is in progress.]
- Worf: I see what you mean.
- Jean-Luc Picard: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! It is... it is... wrong! IT IS WRONG!! A lifetime of discipline washed away, and in its place... [laughs awkwardly, then grunts] Bedlam. BEDLAM! I'm so old. There is nothing left but dry bones, and dead friends. Oh... tired. Oh, so tired.
- Beverly Crusher: It will pass, all of it. Just another hour or so, you're doing fine, just hold on.
- Jean-Luc Picard: NO! This weakness disgusts me! I HATE IT! Where is my logic? I'm betrayed by... desires. Oh, I want to feel, I want to feel... everything. But I am... a Vulcan. I must feel nothing! Give me back my control! [he sobs uncontrollably]
- Beverly Crusher: Jean-Luc!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Pe- Perrin... Amanda... I - wanted - to give you - so much more. I wanted to show you such... t- t- tenderness. But that is not our way. Spock... Amanda... Did you know? P-Perrin, can you - know... how - much I - love - you? I - do - LOVE YOU!
- [Picard weeps heavily, then manages to compose himself]
- Jean-Luc Picard: Beverly...
- Beverly Crusher: I'm here, Jean-Luc. I'm not going anywhere.
- Jean-Luc Picard: It's... quite difficult. The anguish of the man. The despair... pouring out of him, all those feelings. The regrets. [sobs] I c- I can't... stop them! I can't stop them, I can't. I can't...! [breaks down crying]
- Beverly Crusher: [comforting him] Don't even try.
- Ambassador Sarek: I will take my leave of you now, Captain. I do not think we shall meet again.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I hope you are wrong, Ambassador.
- Sarek: [referring to their mind-meld] We shall always retain the best part of the other... inside us.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I believe I have the better part of that bargain, Ambassador. [raises his hand in the Vulcan salute] Peace and long life.
- Sarek: [returns the salute] Live long and prosper.
Ménage à Troi [3.24]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: The Academy must make you wait- that's true. But upon reviewing your service to this ship, your crewmates, I cannot in good conscience make you wait for the Academy. You see, Wesley, in my eyes you are an acting Ensign in title only. I hereby grant you Field Promotion to Full Ensign with all the commensurate responsibilities and privileges of that rank. Congratulations. You're dismissed.
Transfigurations [3.25]
[edit]- Worf: Less talk! More synthehol!
- John: They tried to convince us it was a sickness we would never survive, that the pain and energy pulses would kill us. They claimed we were dangerous, so they destroyed anyone who exhibited the signs of the transfiguration.
- Sunad: We were protecting our society!
- John: By murdering us? You saw the mutations as a threat to your authority, you were terrified of something you couldn't understand. Some suspected that what was happening to them was not evil. Four of us decided to flee Zalkon and let the metamorphosis take its course. You hunted us down, killed the others. But I survived, with the help of a kind and generous people.
- John: My people are about to embark on a new realm, a new plane of existence, thanks to you.
- Picard: It is our mission to seek out life, in all forms. We are privileged to have been present at the emergence of a new species.
The Best of Both Worlds, Part I [3.26]
[edit]- Data: Early bird gets the worm? I believe Commander Shelby erred. There is no evidence of avian or crawling vermicular lifeforms on Jouret IV.
- Geordi: That's not what she meant, Data. But you are right. She erred.
- Picard: It's something of a tradition, Guinan - Captain touring the ship before a battle.
- Guinan: Hmm. Before a hopeless battle, if I remember the tradition correctly.
- Picard: Not necessarily. Nelson toured the HMS Victory before Trafalgar.
- Guinan: Yes, but Nelson never returned from Trafalgar, did he?
- Picard: No, but the battle was won.
- Picard: I wonder if the Emperor Honorius watching the Visigoths coming over the seventh hill could truly realize that the Roman Empire was about to fall. This is really just another page of history, isn't it? Will this be the end of our civilization? Turn the page.
- Guinan: (gently) This isn't the end.
- Picard: You say that with remarkable assuredness.
- Guinan: With experience. When the Borg destroyed my world, my people were scattered throughout the Universe. We survived. As will humanity survive. As long as there's a handful of you to keep the spirit alive, you will prevail...even if it takes a millennium.
- The Borg: Captain Jean-Luc Picard. You lead the strongest ship of the Federation Starfleet. You speak for your people.
- Picard: I have nothing to say to you. And I will resist you with my last ounce of strength!
- The Borg: Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile. We wish to improve ourselves. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service ours.
- Picard: Impossible! My culture is based on freedom and self-determination!
- The Borg: Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must comply.
- Picard: We would rather die.
- The Borg: Death is irrelevant. Your archaic cultures are authority driven. To facilitate our introduction into your societies, it has been decided that a human voice will speak for us in all communications. You have been chosen to be that voice.
- Locutus: I am Locutus of Borg. Resistance is futile. Your life as it has been… is over. From this time forward, you will service… us.
- Riker: Mr. Worf... fire.
Season 4
[edit]- William Riker: They couldn't have adapted that quickly!
- Locutus: [to Riker] The knowledge and experience of the human Picard is part of us now. It has prepared us for all possible courses of action. Your resistance is hopeless... Number One.
- Riker: Now, how the hell do we defeat an enemy that knows us better than we know ourselves?
- Worf: The Borg have neither honour nor courage. That is our greatest advantage.
- Locutus: We will proceed to Earth. And if you attempt to intervene, we will destroy you.
- Riker: Then take your best shot, Locutus. 'Cause we're about to "intervene."
- Wesley: They're ignoring the saucer section completely!
- Riker: Just as you should, Captain. Ensign, evasive pattern, Riker Beta.
- Wesley: Riker Beta confirmed.
- Riker: Proceed to second phase, Commander Shelby.
- Shelby: Acknowledged. Firing anti-matter spread.
- Riker: Data, cut your engines! Take her in unpowered.
- Picard: Sleep, Data.
- Dr. Crusher: (with sympathy) He's exhausted.
- Data: (thoughtfully) Yes, Doctor. But if I may make a supposition...I do not believe his message was intended to express fatigue - but to suggest a course of action...!
- Worf: DATA!
- Worf: Mission accomplished; we have him!
- Data: Firing shuttle thrusters.
- Troi: How do you feel?
- Picard: Almost human...with just a bit of a headache.
- Crusher (with a happy grin): We'll get you to Sickbay. We won't have any trouble getting these implants out now.
- Riker: How much do you remember?
- Picard (soberly): Everything. (But he perks up) Including some brilliantly unorthodox strategy from a former first officer of mine. (Riker grins broadly)
- Rene Picard: You know, you don't seem so arro... arro... Y'know!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Arrogant?
- Rene Picard: Yes! Arrogant! You don't seem that way to me. What does it mean, anyway? Arrogant son-of-a--
- Jean-Luc Picard: Let's... talk about that later, shall we?
- Louis: Never did I know anyone less interested in grapes than you, Jean-Luc!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, no, I was interested. And I was proud that my family were helping to preserve the traditions. I just didn't feel bound by those traditions.
- Louis: You always reach for the future, and your brother for the past.
- Jean-Luc Picard: There should be room for both in this life.
- Guinan: You know, sooner or later, everyone comes in here. They stand by those windows, they look out and they stare. They're looking for that little star they call home. Doesn't matter how far away it it is. Everybody looks anyway.
- Robert Picard: Mind if I ask you a question? What the devil happened to you up there?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Is this brotherly concern?
- Robert Picard: No. Curiosity. What did they do to you?
- Jean-Luc Picard: You know what happened.
- Robert Picard: Not precisely. I gather you were hurt. Humiliated. I've always thought you needed a little humiliation. Or was it humility? Either would do.
- Jean-Luc Picard: (crying) They took everything I was. They used me to kill and to destroy and I couldn't stop them. I should have been able to stop them. I tried. I tried so hard. But I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough! I should have been able to stop them. I should... I should...
- Robert Picard: So... my brother is a human being after all. This is going to be with you a long time, Jean-Luc. A long time.
- Marie Picard: He's still out there, dreaming about starships and adventures... It's getting late.
- Robert Picard: Yes. But let him dream.
- Data: (using Picard's voice) Computer: establish a security code for access to all functions previously tranferred to bridge.
- Computer: Enter code.
- Data: One, seven, three, four, six, seven, three, two, one, four, seven, six, Charlie, three, two, seven, eight, nine, seven, seven, seven, six, four, three, Tango, seven, three, two, Victor, seven, three, one, one, seven, eight, eight, eight, seven, three, two, four, seven, six, seven, eight, nine, seven, six, four, three, seven, six. Lock.
- Computer: Security code intact for all specified inqueiries and orders.
- Data: Computer: initiate cascading sequence, accepting instructions from Commander Data en route. [Data enters the turbolift] Now.
- Lore: Often-Wrong's got a broken heart. Can't even tell his boys apart." Where's Data? You didn't fill Data with substandard parts, did you, old man? No. That honor was bestowed upon me. You owe me, old man. Not him. Me.
Suddenly Human [4.4]
[edit]- Picard: Ever since I was a child, I've always known exactly what I wanted to do: be a member of Starfleet. Nothing else mattered to me. Virtually my entire youth was spent in the pursuit of that goal. In fact...I probably skipped my childhood altogether.
- Endar: You, have you ever been a father, Picard? Have you ever had a son desperately trying to win your approval, your respect? Jono broke his ribs riding on a t'stayan. Six hooves, a very powerful beast. The arm he broke in a competition with other youths. He endured the pain, and won the competition. One day he will be a great warrior.
- Worf: Captain, is it worth it to go to war over a child?
Remember Me [4.5]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: If there's nothing wrong with me... maybe there's something wrong with the universe.
- Beverly Crusher: We will start with the assumption that I am not crazy.
- Beverly Crusher: Computer. Read the entire crew roster for the Enterprise.
- Computer: Dr. Beverly Crusher.
- Beverly Crusher: Have I always been the only member of the crew on the starship Enterprise?
- Computer: Affirmative.
- Beverly Crusher: If this were a bad dream, would you tell me?
- Computer: That is not a valid question.
- Beverly Crusher: Like hell it's not. What is the primary mission of the starship Enterprise?
- Computer: To explore the galaxy.
- Beverly Crusher: Do I have the necessary skills to complete that mission alone?
- Computer: Negative.
- Beverly Crusher: Then why am I the only crew member?
- Computer: [confused beeping]
- Beverly Crusher: Aha. Got you there.
- Beverly Crusher: Here's a question you shouldn't be able to answer...Computer: What is the nature of the universe?
- Computer: The universe is a spheroid region 705 meters in diameter.
- Beverly Crusher: Click my heels together three times and I'm back in Kansas. Can it really be that simple?
- Data: [To Ishara Yar, on friendship] As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated. And even missed when absent.
- Ishara: You mean, you can become "used" to someone.
- Data: Exactly.
- William Riker: [To Data, on trust] In all trust, there is the possibility for betrayal.
- Duras: I'm the only one, Worf, the only one who can prove your innocence. Kill me and you're a traitor forever.
- Worf (in fury): Then that is how it shall be!
Future Imperfect [4.8]
[edit]- Captain Riker: Shut up!
- Admiral Picard: I beg your pardon?!
- Captain Riker: I said shut up! As in close your mouth and stop talking!
Final Mission [4.9]
[edit]- (seeing Wesley Crusher looking well worn, Picard quips to Wesley describing his appearance)
- Wesley Crusher: You don't exactly look ship-shape yourself, sir.
- Beverly Crusher: Therapists are always the worst patients. Except for doctors, of course.
- Data: A resumption of our present course at warp six will place us in the T'lli Beta system in six days, thirteen hours, forty-seven minutes.
- William Riker: What, no seconds?
- Data: I have discovered, sir, a certain level of impatience when I calculate a lengthy time interval to the nearest second. However, if you wish...
- William Riker: No, no. Minutes is fine.
- Deanna Troi: Is this how you handle all of your personnel problems?
- William Riker: Sure. You'd be surprised how far a hug goes with Geordi, or Worf.
Data's Day [4.11]
[edit]- Data: I could be pursuing an untamed ornithoid without cause.
- Data: [experimenting with "friendly insults and jibes"] My hair does not require trimming, you lunkhead.
- Data: [performing the tap step he has just learned] Am I dancing, Doctor?
- Beverly Crusher: They don't do a lot of tap-dancing at weddings.
- Data: Why?
- Beverly Crusher: Well, Data, because...I don't really know why, Data.
- William Riker: Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.
The Wounded [4.12]
[edit]- Miles O'Brien: I was on Setlik III with Captain Maxwell the morning after the massacre. We were too late, of course. Almost everyone was dead.
- Daro: It was a terrible mistake. We were told the outpost was a launching place for a massive attack against us.
- Miles O'Brien: The only people left alive were in an outlying district of the settlement. I was sent there with a squad to reinforce them. Cardassians were advancing on us, moving through the streets, destroying, killing. I was with a group of women and children when two Cardassian soldiers burst in. I stunned one of them. The other one jumped me. We struggled. One of the women threw me a phaser, and I fired. The phaser was set at maximum. The man just incinerated, there before my eyes. I'd never killed anything before. When I was a kid, I'd worry about swatting a mosquito. It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became because of you.
- Benjamin Maxwell: You're a fool, Picard. History will look at you and say, "This man was a fool."
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'll accept the judgment of history.
- Both Maxwell and O'Brien sing "The Minstral Boy":
- The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone,
- In the ranks of death you'll find him;
- His father's sword he has girded on,
- And his wild harp slung behind him.
- "Land of song!" said the warrior-bard,
- "Tho' all the world betrays thee,
- One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard,
- One faithful harp shall praise thee!"
- Benjamin Maxwell: I'm not going to win this one, am I Chief?."
- Miles O'Brien: No Sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: The loyalty you would so quickly dismiss does not come easily to my people, Gul Macet. You have much to learn about us. Benjamin Maxwell earned the loyalty of those who served with him. In war, he was twice honored with the Federation's highest citation for his courage and valor. And if he could not find a role for himself in peace, we can pity him, but we shall not dismiss him. [turns his back on the Cardassian officer] Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet. "We'll be watching."
Devil's Due [4.13]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: In the hands of a con artist, fear can be used to motivate obedience, capitulation, the exploitation of innocent people - and that is what I believe has happened here and I intend to prove that.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I've encountered many who are more credibly to be called the devil than you.
- [after Ardra transports Picard to the planet in his pajamas]
- Geordi La Forge: Captain, I wasn't expecting you here.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Neither was I.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Never mind, Mr. Worf, just have Commander Data fetch me in a shuttle. And have him bring a uniform.
- Worf: Did you say... uniform?
- Data: The advocate will refrain from making her opponent disappear.
- Data: [after Ardra becomes the Devil] Any more disruptions and I will rule you in contempt of court. Is that understood?
- Data: I will draw my own conclusions, if you do not mind... Sir.
First Contact [4.15]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard (Pours some wine): I've been saving this for a special occasion. My brother on Earth produces fruit known as grapes, which he turns into wine. He's really quite good at it. Chancellor, we have a tradition called a toast. It is a drink to salute one's friends and good fortune, and I would like to propose a toast to a new friendship.
- Chancellor Durken: We have something very much like this here on Malcor Three.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I think we shall find we have much in common.
- Chancellor Durken: And much that is not in common.
- Jean-Luc Picard: An opportunity to learn from one another.
- Chancellor Durken: Trust requires time and experience.
- Chancellor Durken: My world's history has recorded that conquerors often arrived with the words, we are your friends.
- Jean-Luc Picard: We are not here as conquerors, Chancellor.
- Chancellor Durken: What do you want?
- Jean-Luc Picard: A beginning. But how we proceed is entirely up to you.
- Chancellor Durken: And if my wishes should conflict with yours?
- Jean-Luc Picard: There'll be no conflict.
- Chancellor Durken: And if I should tell you to leave and never return to my world?
- Jean-Luc Picard: We will leave and never return. Chancellor, we are here only to help guide you into a new era. I can assure you we will not interfere in the natural development of your planet. That is, in fact, our Prime Directive.
- Chancellor Durken: I can infer from that directive that you do not intend to share all this exceptional technology with us.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That is not the whole meaning, but it is part of it.
- Chancellor Durken: Is this your way of maintaining superiority?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Chancellor, to instantly transform a society with technology would be harmful and it would be destructive,
- Chancellor Durken: I go home each night to a loving wife, two beautiful daughters. We eat the evening meal together as a family, I think that's important. And they always ask me if I've had a good day.
- Jean-Luc Picard: And how shall you answer them tonight, Chancellor?
- Chancellor Durken: I will have to say this morning, I was the leader of the universe as I knew it. This afternoon, I am only a voice in a chorus. But I think it was a good day.
Galaxy's Child [4.16]
[edit]Night Terrors [4.17]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: We have to dream in order to survive.
- [Guinan has just fired a large (very powerful) phaser rifle to break up a brawl.]
- Gillespie: What is that?!
- Guinan: Just a little souvenir I picked up on Makus III. That was setting number one. Anyone want to see setting number two?
- Data: As my final duty as acting captain, I order you to bed.
Identity Crisis [4.18]
[edit]The Nth Degree [4.19]
[edit]- LaForge:"You just spent the entire night arguing grand unification theories with Albert Einstein!"
- [Lt. Barclay has had his intelligence greatly increased by an alien probe and is attempting to interface with the computer.]
- Reginald Barclay: Computer. Begin new program. Create as follows. Work station chair. Now, create a standard alphanumeric console positioned for the left hand. Now an iconic display console positioned for the right hand. Tie both consoles into the Enterprise main computer core utilizing neural scan interface.
- Computer: There is no such device on file.
- Reginald Barclay: No problem; here's how you build it.
- Reginald Barclay: I perceive the entire universe as a single equation and it's so simple.
- Cytherian Alien: Emotive, electrochemical stimulus response; cranial plate; bipedal locomotion. Endoskeletal. Contiguous external integument.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard, of the Federation Starship Enterprise.
- Cytherian Alien: Hierarchical collective command structure.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Who are you?
- Cytherian Alien: Interrogative!
- Reginald Barclay: May I? (moves a piece) Checkmate in nine moves."
- Deena Troi:" I didn't know you play chess."
- Reginald Barclay:" I don't… "
- Q: [To Picard] You are the most impossible person to buy a gift for!
- Jean-Luc Picard: I've just been paid a visit by Q.
- William Riker: Q? Any idea what he's up to?
- Jean-Luc Picard: He wants to do something nice for me.
- William Riker: I'll alert the crew.
- [Q has dressed Worf as Will Scarlet.]
- Worf: Sir, I protest! I am not a merry man!
- [Worf smashes Geordi's mandolin against a tree.]
- Worf: ...Sorry.
- Vash: Meet my new partner.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Him?!
- Vash: Why not?
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'll tell you why not...!
- Q: Now, Jean-Luc, let's not be unkind...
- Jean-Luc Picard: He's devious, and amoral, and unreliable, and irresponsible, and... and definitely not to be trusted.
- Vash: Remind you of someone you know?
- Jean-Luc Picard: (forced to smile) As a matter of fact, it does.
The Drumhead [4.21]
[edit]- Worf: The Federation does have enemies, we must seek them out!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Oh yes, that's how it starts, but the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy. "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.
- Adm. Norah Satie: How dare you! You who consort with Romulans! Invoke my father's name in support of your traitorous arguments! It is an affront to everything I hold dear. And to hear his name used to subvert the United Federation of Planets. My father was a great man. His name stands for principle, and integrity! You dirty his name when you speak it! He loved the Federation! But you, Captain, corrupt it! You undermine our very way of life! I will expose you for what you are! I've brought down bigger men than you, Picard!
- Jean-Luc Picard: We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again.
- Worf: I believed her. I... helped her. I did not see her for what she was.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their moustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged.
- Worf: I think... after yesterday people will not be so ready to trust her.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us. Waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. [...] Vigilance, Mr. Worf. That is the price we must continually pay.
- Picard: Five hundred years ago, military officers would upend a drum in a battlefield, sit at it and dispense summary justice. Decisions were quick, punishments severe, appeals denied. Those who came to a drumhead were doomed.
Half A Life [4.22]
[edit]- Lwaxana Troi: We raise them, we care for them, we suffer for them, we keep them from harm their whole lives. Now eventually, it's their turn to take care of us.
- Timicin: No parent should expect to be paid back for the love they have given their children.
- Lwaxana Troi: Well, why the hell not?
The Mind's Eye [4.24]
[edit]- Geordi La Forge: How about a game, Computer?
- Computer: Please restate request.
- Geordi La Forge: Something to pass the time. Y'know, a diversion?
- Computer: Select either "visual interactive" or "verbal interactive".
- Geordi La Forge: Verbal.
- Computer: You have 20 seconds to respond to each question. Level of difficulty will increase as you progress. Proceed when ready.
- Geordi La Forge: Begin!
- Computer: List the resonances of the sub-quantum states associated with transitional relativity...
- Geordi La Forge: [Geordi laughs] That's easy!
- Computer: ...in alphabetical order.
- Subcommander Taibak: Welcome, Mr. La Forge. We've waited a long time to meet you.
- Geordi La Forge: (strapped into a chair) I can tell you've gone to a lot of trouble.
- Subcommander Taibak: Indeed we have.
- Data: Report, please. Geordi, please respond.
- Data: Computer, current location of Lt. Commander La Forge.
- Computer: Cargo Bay 4.
- Data: Data to Lt. Worf. Priority 1.
- Worf: Go ahead.
- Data: Take Commander La Forge into custody immediately.
- Worf: Sir?
- Data: That is an order.
- Picard: Mr. Worf, get him out of here.
- [Worf gets himself free from the other Klingons who were holding him back, and takes La Forge into custody.]
- Vagh: Harming our enemies is not enough! Now the Federation would murder me to achieve its aims!
- Picard: Governor, if I could explain this, I would.
- [Data enters.]
- Data: I believe I can help, Captain. I've been able to determine that Commander La Forge was abducted by Romulans en route to Rissa. It is likely that he was somehow forced to take part in the plot to assassinate Governor Vagh.
- Ambassador Kell: I saw no evidence of Romulans! We just witnessed him acting very much alone.
- Data: No, sir. You did not. I do not believe the Commander is acting out of his own accord. He has been receiving heat band signals through his VISOR, signals which are carrying direct commands to his brain. I have surmised that Commander La Forge was conditioned by Romulans, a process referred to historically, and somewhat inaccurately, as "brainwashing."
- Vagh: But to what end? Why would the Romulans want to kill me?
- Picard: The Romulans have always wanted to destroy the alliance between the Federation and the Klingons. If Mr. La Forge had killed you, Governor, I think you will agree that they might have succeeded.
- Kell: Who sent these signals? A cloaked Romulan ship?
- Data: No, sir. That is not possible. The signals had to be transmitted within close proximity to the VISOR.
- Picard: Are you suggesting that there was a Romulan accomplice who was in close proximity to Mr. La Forge when he was receiving signals?
- Data: Yes, sir. I am.
- Vagh: This Romulan accomplice. Who is he?
- Data: I have narrowed the list of possibilities to two people. The only two people who were with Mr. La Forge all three times when the transmission was recorded: Captain Picard and Ambassador Kell. One of them may be concealing a heat band transmitter. If they would agree to be searched...
- Kell: I am a Klingon! An Emissary of the High Council! I will not submit to being forced to be searched by you or anyone else o on this ship!
- Vagh: I am forced to agree, Captain. We will take the ambassador with us and search him ourselves.
- Kell: Captain, I believe it to be in all our best interests if I remain aboard. I formally request asylum.
- Picard: I will certainly grant you asylum...when you have been absolved of this crime.
- Jenna D'Sora: I wish we were back there now, you and I.
- Data: The unidirectional nature of the time continuum makes that an unlikely possibility.
- Geordi La Forge: Listen, my advice is... ask somebody else for advice, at least someone who's got more experience at... giving advice.
- Deanna Troi: Ultimately Jenna will care for you for who you are, not what you imitate out of a book.
- Data: My programming may be inadequate to the task.
- Worf: Klingons do not... pursue relationships. They conquer that which they desire.
- Worf: However, Lieutenant D'Sora serves under my command. If she were.. mistreated, I would be very displeased... ...Sir.
- Data: I understand.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'd be delighted to offer any advice I have on understanding women. When I have some, I'll let you know.
- Data: Computer, decrease illumination level by 1/3 standard lux.
- Jenna D'Sora: Eh, this is all part of a programme?
- Data: Yes, one which I have just created for romantic relationships
- Jenna D'Sora: So, I am just a small variable in one of you computational environments.
- Data: You are much more than that, Jenna. I have written a subroutine specifically for you. A programme within the programme. I have devoted a considerable share of my internal resources to its development.
- Jenna D'Sora: Data, that's the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me.
- Data: Jenna, are we no longer a couple?
- Jenna D'Sora: No, we're not.
- Data: Then I will delete the appropriate program.
Redemption, Part I [4.26]
[edit]Season 5
[edit]Redemption, Part II [5.1]
[edit]- B'Etor: Defeat.
- Toral: How? Where are the Romulans?
- Lursa: They never came.
- [Worf is dragged in by his Romulan guard]
- Lursa: Kill him.
- [but Worf fights the Romulan as Lursa and B'Etor have themselves beamed to safety]
- Toral: NO!
- [Worf defeats the Romulan as his brother arrives]
- Kurn: Toral, the next Leader of the Empire. Gowron is looking forward to seeing you again.
- Riker: The Children of Tama. I've heard rumours about them for years.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Indeed. Are they truly incomprehensible? In my experience, communication is a matter of patience, imagination. I would like to believe these are qualities we have in sufficient measure.
- Dathon: Rai and Jiri at Lungha. Ri of Luwani. Luwani under two moons. Jiri of Ubaya. Ubaya of crossed roads at Lungha. Lungha, her sky grey. [greeting]
- Tamarian lst Officer: Kadir beneath Mo Moteh. [cluelessness, possibly unwillingness to understand]
- Dathon: The river Temarc. In winter. [Stop, cease]
- Dathon: Shaka. When the walls fell. [Failure]
- Tamarian lst Officer: Mirab. His sails unfurled. [travel or departure]
- [repeated line]
- Dathon: Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra. [Two strangers uniting against a common adversary]
- Dathon: Temba. His arms wide. [A gift, or to give]
- Dathon: Uzani. His army with fist open.
- Jean-Luc Picard: A strategy? With fist open? With fist open...
- Dathon: His army with fist closed.
- Jean-Luc Picard: With fist closed? An army with fist open... to lure the enemy. With fist closed... To attack? That's how you communicate, isn't it? By citing example. By metaphor! Uzani's army with... with fist open.
- Dathon: Sokath! His eyes uncovered! [understanding, revealing truth]
- Dathon: Darmok on the ocean. [Alone, isolated]
- Dathon: [telling the story of Darmok and Jalad]
- Darmok on the ocean.
- Tanagra on the ocean. Darmok at Tanagra.
- Jalad on the ocean. Jalad at Tanagra.
- The beast of Tanagra.
- Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.
- Dathon: Kiazi's children. Their faces wet. [death, mourning]
- Dathon: Zinda! His face black. His eyes red. [war, violence] Callimas at Bahar.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [paraphrasing The Epic of Gilgamesh] Gilgamesh, a king. Gilgamesh, a king at Uruk. [metaphor about ancient Babylonian legends from Earth] He tormented his subjects. He made them angry. They cried out aloud: "Send us a companion for our king! Spare us from his madness!" Enkidu, a wild man from the forest, entered the city. They fought in the temple. They fought in the streets. Gilgamesh defeated Enkidu. They became great friends. Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.
- Dathon: At Uruk.
- Jean-Luc Picard: The... the new friends went out into the desert together, where the Great Bull of Heaven was killing men by the hundreds. Enkidu caught the bull by the tail, Gilgamesh struck him with his sword.
- Dathon: Gilgamesh.
- Jean-Luc Picard: They were victorious. But... Enkidu fell to the ground, struck down by the gods; and Gilgamesh wept bitter tears, saying, "He who was my companion through adventure and hardship, [as Dathon dies] is gone forever."
- Tamarian 1st Officer: Zinda! His face black, his eyes red!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Temarc! The river Temarc! In winter!
- Tamarian 1st Officer: Darmok...
- Jean-Luc Picard: And Jalad. At Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad... on the ocean.
- Tamarian 1st Officer: Sokath! His eyes opened!
- Jean-Luc Picard: The beast at Tanagra? Uzani. His army. Shaka, when the walls fell.
- [The First Officer bows his head and the other Tamarian crew members make gestures of tribute. Picard holds up Dathon's notebook, which the First Officer transports to his hand.]
- Tamarian 1st Officer: Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel. [a new metaphor added to the language]
- Tamarian lst Officer: [to the crew] Mirab with sails unfurled.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [offering Dathon's knife] Temba. His arms wide.
- Tamarian 1st Officer: Temba. At rest. [You may keep it.]
- Jean-Luc Picard: Thank you.
- Picard: Yes, Ensign Laren, please sit down -
- Ensign Ro: Ensign Ro, sir.
- Picard: (nonplussed) I beg your pardon?
- Ensign Ro: The Bajoran custom has the family name first, the individual's name second. I am properly addressed as 'Ensign Ro'.
- Picard: I'm sorry, I didn't know.
- Ensign Ro: (shrugging) No, there's no reason you should. It's an old custom; most Bajora these days accept the distortion of their names in order to assimilate. (brief pause before she sits) I do not.
- Keeve: I cannot condone violence against people who are not our enemy.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Then I don't understand why you're unwilling [to help us].
- Keeve: Because... you're innocent bystanders. You were innocent bystanders for decades as the Cardassians took our homes. As they violated and tortured our people in the most hideous ways imaginable. As we were forced to flee.
- Picard: We were saddened by those events, but they occurred within the borders of the Cardassian Empire.
- Keeve: And the Federation is pledged not to interfere with the internal affairs of others. How convenient that must be for you. To turn a deaf ear to those who suffer behind a line on a map.
- Picard: Well, I'm not here to debate Federation policy with you, but I can offer you assistance.
- Keeve: Simply because of one terrorist attack? Well, perhaps I should have known, we should have attacked the Federation long ago.
- Keeve: We live in different universes, you and I. Yours is about diplomacy, politics, strategy. Mine is about blankets! If we were to exchange places for one night, you might better understand.
- Picard: Mr. Data, see that the replicators provide a blanket for every man, woman, and child before nightfall.
- Guinan: Am I disturbing you?
- Ensign Ro: Yes.
- Guinan: Good. You look like someone who wants to be disturbed.
- Guinan: I believe truth is in the eye of the beholder.
- Ensign Ro: Isn't that supposed to be beauty?
- Guinan: Truth, beauty, works for a lot of things.
- Ro: You're not like any bartender I've met before
- Guinan: And you're not like any Starfleet officer I've met before. But that sounds like the beginning of a very interesting friendship.
- Ro: I don't stay anywhere long enough to make friends.
- Guinan: Too late. You just did.
Silicon Avatar [5.4]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: [Touches comm badge] Bridge, this is Picard. This is the captain, does anyone read me?
- Child 1: [crying] Why don't they answer?!
- Picard: I don't know.
- Child 2: They're all dead.
- Picard: They're not dead, communication is down, that's all.
- Child 2: We're going to die, too.
- Worf: Congratulations. You are now fully dilated to ten centimeters. You may now give birth.
- Keiko O'Brien: That's what I've been doing!
- Worf: The computer simulation was not like this. That delivery was very orderly.
- Keiko: WELL I'M SORRY!!
- Worf: Push, Keiko! Push! Push!
- Keiko: I AM PUSHING!
Unification, Part I [5.7]
[edit]- Data: These quarters were obviously intended for one crewman, sir. There is only one sleeping space.
- Jean-Luc Picard: I'm sure the Klingons found it amusing to put us in here together.
- Data: Since I do not require sleep, I propose you take the... shelf, sir. I am content to stand.
Unification, Part II [5.8]
[edit]- Spock: [to Picard] In your own way, you are as stubborn as another Captain of the Enterprise I once knew.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Then I'm in good company, sir.
- Spock: Fascinating. You have an efficient intellect, superior physical skills, no emotional impediments. There are Vulcans who aspire all their lives to achieve what you've been given by design.
- Data: You are half human?
- Spock: Yes.
- Data: Yet you have chosen a Vulcan way of life?
- Spock: I have.
- Data: In effect, you have abandoned what I have sought all my life.
- Data: Ambassador Spock, may I ask a personal question?
- Spock: Please.
- Data: As you examine your life, do you find you have missed your humanity?
- Spock: I have no regrets.
- Data: "No regrets". That is a human expression.
- Spock: Yes. Fascinating.
- Omag: [on Worf and Amarie singing in Klingon] What is that dreadful noise?! It sounds like a Bardakian pronghorn moose!
- Spock: I will not read this, or any other statement.
- Sela: If you do not you will die. All of you will die.
- Spock: Since it is logical to conclude that you will kill us in any event, I choose not to cooperate.
- Sela: I hate Vulcans.
A Matter of Time [5.9]
[edit]- Data: I assume your handprint will open this door whether you are conscious or not.
New Ground [5.10]
[edit]- Geordi La Forge: "Data! Data, isn't this exciting? We are going to witness a moment in history!"
- Data (puzzled): "Every nanosecond in this continuum is a moment in history, once it has elapsed."
Hero Worship [5.11]
[edit]- [Data is talking with a young boy who is pretending to be an android to cope with a recent traumatic experience.]
- Data: I have often wished to be human. I study people carefully, in order to more closely approximate human behavior.
- Timothy: Why? We're smarter and stronger than humans, we can do more than they can.
- Data: But I cannot take pride in my abilities. I cannot take pleasure in my accomplishments.
- Timothy: We never have to feel bad, either.
- Data: I would gladly risk feeling bad at times, if it also meant that I could taste my dessert.
Violations [5.12]
[edit]- Tarmin: It has been three centuries since anyone was treated for this... this form of rape. But there are medical records from that era. It was a time of great violence among my people. A time we thought we had put far behind us. That this could happen now... it's unimaginable.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Earth was once a violent planet, too. At times the chaos threatened the very fabric of life, but, like you, we evolved. We found better ways to handle our conflicts. But I think no one can deny that the seed of violence remains within each of us. We must recognize that, because that violence is capable of consuming each of us, as it consumed your son.
The Masterpiece Society [5.13]
[edit]- [Troi and Data are in Ten-Forward, when all of the crew lose their memories]
- Deanna Troi: The bartender is an artificial lifeform.
- Data: Can I get you something? A beverage?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Contact the operations officer to assist you.
- Geordi La Forge: Aye, sir.
- Ensign Ro: He's in Ten-Forward... waiting tables.
- McDuff: Well done, Captain.
Power Play [5.15]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: [To Dr Russell, who has been using experimental techniques to treat patients] You scare me, doctor. You risk your patients' lives and justify it in the name of research. Genuine research takes time... sometimes a lifetime of painstaking, detailed work in order to get any results. Not for you, you take short cuts, right through living tissue. You put your research ahead of your patients' lives and as far as I'm concerned, that's a violation of our most sacred trust. I'm sure your work will be hailed as a stunning breakthrough. Enjoy your laurels, doctor. I'm not sure I could.
The Outcast [5.17]
[edit]- [Soren, a member of a genderless species, defends her gender identity]
- Soren: I am female. I was born that way. I have had those feelings… those longings… all my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped, and I do not need to be cured. What I do need — what all of those like me need — is your understanding and your compassion. We do not injure you in any way. And yet we are scorned, and attacked. And all because we are different. What we do is no different from what you do. We talk and laugh… we complain about work and we wonder about growing old… we talk about our families, and we worry about the future…We cry with each other when things seem hopeless. All the loving things that you do with each other… that’s what we do. And for that, we are called misfits, and deviants… and criminals. What right do you have to punish us? What right do you have to change us? What makes you think you can dictate how people love each other?
Cause and Effect [5.18]
[edit]- William Riker: Sometimes I wonder if he's stacking the deck.
- Data: I assure you, commander, the cards have been sufficiently randomized.
- Worf: [surly] I hope so.
- [at a poker game]
- Worf: I am experiencing nIb'poH, the feeling I have done this before.
- Riker: Yes, last Tuesday night.
- Worf: That's not what I mean.
- Jean-Luc Picard: My aunt Adelle cured a lot of sleepless nights with this steaming milk.
- Beverly Crusher: Thank you. Mmm, nutmeg.
- Picard: Whenever I get insomnia, I try to perfect the recipe.
- Beverly Crusher: Thank you, for everything.
- Picard: Uh uh. Thank Aunt Adelle.
The First Duty [5.19]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based! If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!
Cost of Living [5.20]
[edit]- Alexander Rozhenko: Why are they arguing?
- Juggler: They're friends. They love contradiction. They they thrive on challenge! They flourish in conflict.
- Alexander Rozhenko: Then why are they friends?
- Lwaxana Troi: Who else are you going to argue with if not your friends?
The Perfect Mate [5.21]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: I wish I knew how I could help.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Perhaps I just needed a shoulder.
- Beverly Crusher: Well it's there for you, Jean-Luc. It always has been.
Imaginary Friend [5.22]
[edit]- Guinan: No, it's a Samalian coral fish with its fin unfolded.
- Data: I believe what you are seeing is the effect of the fluid dynamic processes inherent in the large scale motion of rarefied gas.
- Guinan: No, no. First it was a fish and now it's a Mentonian sailing ship.
- Data: Where?
- Guinan: Right there. Don't you see the two swirls coming together to form the mast?
- Data: I do not see it. It is interesting that people try to find meaningful patterns in things that are essentially random. I have noticed that the images they perceive sometimes suggest what they are thinking about at that particular moment. Besides, it is clearly a bunny rabbit.
- Jean-Luc Picard: [to a disengaged Borg male teen, in the manner of "Locutus"] This is a primitive culture. I am here to facilitate its incorporation.
- Beverly Crusher: But even in war there are rules. You don't kill civilians indiscriminately.
- William T. Riker: There are no civilians among the Borg.
- Hugh: We are Hugh.
- Hugh: Resistance is not futile?
- Geordi La Forge: Part of what we do is learn more about other species.
- Hugh: We assimilate species. Then we know everything about them.
The Next Phase [5.24]
[edit]- Ro Laren: I don't have all the answers; I've never been dead before.
- Data: I never knew what a friend was until I met Geordi. He spoke to me as though I were human. He treated me no differently from anyone else. He accepted me for what I am. And that, I have learned, is friendship. But I do not know how to say goodbye.
- Geordi La Forge: Maybe the Federation should develop phase inverter of its own. If it can teach Ro Laren humility, it could do anything!
The Inner Light [5.25]
[edit]
- Screenplay by Morgan Gendel and Peter Allan Fields. This episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The younger Batai, the son of Kamin, was played by Patrick Stewart's real-life son, Daniel. (Stardate: 45944.1, original airdate: 1 June 1992)
- Eline: [to Jean-Luc Picard] You think that this — your life — is a dream?
- Jean-Luc Picard: This is not my life! I know that much.
- Picard: Would you try to answer some questions for me? No matter how strange they may seem to you?
- Eline: Of course.
- Eline: The happiest day of my life was the day we got married.
- Picard: And what do I do — here in Ressik?
- Eline: You are the best iron weaver in the community — at least I think so. You prefer playing the flute, of course.
- Picard: The flute?
- Eline: Yes. [she gets up, finds his flute and hands it to him]
- Picard: When did I learn to play this?
- Eline: I'm afraid you never did, dear. You do keep trying.
- Picard: [blows a few feeble notes] I see what you mean. … Well, thank you for the soup. Thank you for your help. Tomorrow, will you help me send a message?
- Eline: Of course. Will you come to bed?
- Picard: Oh, I'll sleep here.
- Eline: Kamin, please come with me.
- Picard: I've been sick. I'd be tossing and turning; it wouldn't be fair to you.
- Eline: Let me be the judge of that.
- Eline: I think you're still trying to figure out where you are. Where that ship of yours is. How to get back to that life.
- Picard/Kamin: The memory is five years old now, but it's still inside me.
- Eline: Was your life there so much better than this? So much more gratifying, so much more fulfilling, that you cling to it with such stubbornness?
- Picard/Kamin: Eline.
- Eline: It must have been extraordinary. But never in all the stories you've told me have you mentioned anyone who loved you as I do.
- Picard/Kamin: It was real. It was as real as this is. And you can't expect me to forget a lifetime spent there.
- Eline: Yes, I can. I've been patient Kamin. For five years I've shared you with that other life. I’ve listened, I’ve tried to understand, and I have waited. When do I get you back?
- Batai: This tree is our symbol. Our affirmation of Life, and everyone in this town gives part of their water rations to keep it alive. We've learned, Administrator, that hope is a powerful weapon against anything, even drought.
- Meribor: You've taught me to pursue the truth, no matter how painful it is. It's too late to back off now. This planet is dying.
- Picard/Kamin: Perhaps I should have filled your head with trivial concerns. Games and toys and clothes.
- Meribor: I don't think you mean that.
- Picard/Kamin: No, I don't. It just saddens me to see you burdened with the knowledge of things you can't change.
- Meribor: Father, I think I should marry Dannick sooner rather than later, don't you?
- Picard/Kamin: Seize the time, Meribor. Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
- Batai: We hoped our probe would encounter someone in the future. Someone who could be a teacher. Someone who could tell the others about us.
- Picard/Kamin: Oh, it's me, isn't it? I'm the someone. I'm the one it finds. That's what this launching is. A probe that finds me in the future.
- Eline: Yes, my love.
- Picard/Kamin: Eline.
- Eline: The rest of us have been gone for a thousand years. If you remember what we were, and how we lived, then we'll have found life again.
- Picard/Kamin: Eline…
- Eline: [the rocket rises into the sky] Now we live in you. Tell them of us, my darling.
Time's Arrow, Part I [5.26]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: [referring to disembodied head] Data, is this yours?
- Data: I believe so, sir.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Could it be... Lore?
- Data: No, sir. My brother's positronic brain has a Type-L phase discriminating amplifier. Mine is a Type-R.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Have you ever heard Data define friendship?
- Commander William T. Riker: No.
- Troi: How did he put it? "As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated and even missed when absent."
- [Later, after Data enters the turbolift and asks them if they are distressed for some reason.]
- Riker: It's just that our mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns.
- Data: Hmm, I understand. I am also fond of you, Commander. And you as well, Counselor.
Season 6
[edit]Time's Arrow, Part II [6.1]
[edit]- [Picard is masquerading as a handyman in 1893 San Francisco.]
- Doctor: Just what are you doing with those lamps?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Replacing the burners. City ordinance. Makes it safer in case of earthquake.
- Doctor: There hasn't been an earthquake here in thirty years!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Well, that takes care of this ward. Time to be moving on.
- Doctor: (scoffs) Earthquakes...
Realm of Fear [6.2]
[edit]- Geordi La Forge: Barclay, I'm gonna need a systems engineer on this away team.
- Reginald Barclay: I'll, I'll ask Ensign Dern to join you.
- La Forge: I meant you, Barclay!
Man of the People [6.3]
[edit]- Ambassador Ves Alkar: Hear me out, Captain. It's important you understand. You see, I discovered long ago I had the ability to channel my darker thoughts, my unwanted emotions, to others, leaving me unencumbered.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Is this what you've done to Counsellor Troi?
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: I hadn't planned it. I'd expected Maylor to live through the negotiation. Her death could not have been more untimely.
- Jean-Luc Picard: So then you deliberately used Deanna.
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: She's an empath. I was reasonably certain I could establish a link with her. Frankly, I was amazed when I saw how quickly she'd aged. Usually my receptacles survive for years.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Receptacles?
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: Come now, Captain. Surely you can see there's a broader canvas here. If I came to these peace talks hindered by unwanted emotions, the Rekags and Seronians would be condemned to go on fighting
- Jean-Luc Picard: You cannot explain away a wantonly immoral act because you think it is connected to some higher purpose.
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: Captain. do you know how many people have died on this planet in the last forty eight hours? Thousands. Deanna Troi is just one individual.
- Jean-Luc Picard: That does not justify brutalising her, nor any of the others you have used.
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: Ask the Seronian and Rekag children who go to bed each night in fear of their lives. Captain, I get no payment, I have no power base, no agenda. I am willing to risk my life simply to help others.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Do you think that makes you appear courageous? Because you're mistaken. You're a coward, Alkar. You exploit the innocent because you're unwilling to shoulder the burdens of unpleasant emotions. Well, this time you will be held accountable. I'm taking you back to the Enterprise to release Counsellor Troi.
- Ambassador Ves Alkar: I have no intention of releasing her now or ever.
Ambassader Alkar literaly ages and drops down dead:
- Worf: Worf to Captain Picard. Ambassader Alkar is dead.
When Scott is shown to his quarters:
- Scotty: Bigger??? In my day even an Admiral had nothing as large as this!
- Scotty: I was driving starships when your great-grandfather was still in diapers
- Scotty: Lad I was drinking Scotch a hundred years before you were born and this is definately NOT SCOTCH
- Scotty: You're not quite uh...human, are ya?
- Data: No, sir. I am an android. Lieutenant Commander Data.
- Scotty: [inspecting his drink] What is it?
- Data: It is... [sniffs the bottle] it is... [sniffs the bottle again, looking puzzled] ...it is green. (An echo of Scotty's comment to the Andromedan/Kelvan alien Tomar in TOS' By Any Other Name)
[Scotty is outside the Holodeck]
- Computer: Please enter program.
- Scotty: The android at the bar said you could show me my old ship, let me see it.
- Computer: Insufficient data. Please specify parameters.
- Scotty: The Enterprise, show me the bridge of the Enterprise, ya chattering piece of-
- Computer: There have been five Federation ships with that name. Please specify by registry number.
- Scotty: NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D.
- Computer: Program complete. Enter when ready.
- Scotty: [pours a drink and gives a toast] Here's to ya, lads.
- Data: (reciting 'Ode To Spot')
Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defences.
I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.
- Data: Your hesitation suggests you are trying to protect my feelings. However, since I have none, I would prefer you to be honest.
- La Forge: [after yawning] Oh, excuse me.
- Riker: I know the feeling.
- La Forge: Good morning.
- Riker: Morning?! I just went to bed!
- La Forge: Commander, it's 0700 hours.
- Troi: Have you dreamed about scissors recently?
- Riker: Whoever it was that sent that thing was more than simply curious...
- La Forge: I've been in this room before.
- Riker: We've all been here before.
- Geordi La Forge: Everything was normal and then, suddenly it's like the laws of physics went right out the window.
- Q: And why shouldn't they? They're so inconvenient.
- Picard: Are you responsible for this incident in engineering?
- Q: Of course! I needed to find out if what I suspected about the girl were true.
- Picard: That being...
- Q: That she's Q.
- Q: Crusher gets more shrill with every passing year.
- Q: You don't have to eat, you know. It's a nasty human habit you could do without.
- Q: Jean-Luc, sometimes I think the only reason I come here is to listen to these wonderful speeches of yours...
- Q: With unlimited power comes responsibility.
- Q: What is it about these squirming little infants that you find so appealing?
- Beverly Crusher: I'm sure that's beyond your comprehension, Q.
- Q: I desperately hope so.
- Beverly Crusher: I don't interfere with what you're teaching her.
- Q: You wouldn't be capable of interfering.
- Beverly Crusher: I don't think it's too much to ask for you to do the same.
(Beverly is suddenly turned into a red setter dog, barking. Amanda restores her to human)
- Beverly Crusher: (who apparently didn't notice her transformation) And you stay out of mine!
- Amanda Rogers: Ever since I got here, I've been fighting this… I've been denying the truth… denying what I am. I am Q.
- (returning from leave, Picard is showing the others his archaeological finds)
- Guinan: You were on one of the most beautiful planets in the entire quadrant, and you spent the entire time in a cave?
- Picard: (nodding happily) It was a very rewarding experience. Look at these fragments! They're very nearly in perfect condition, and yet they're seven hundred years old.
- Guinan: So's my father.
- Ro: This is the first time these Jefferies tubes haven't seemed cramped.
- Guinan: How much farther do we have to go?
- Ro: About fifty metres. Don't tell me you're tired.
- Guinan (wryly): I'm not as young as I used to be. (Ro gets the joke and chuckles)
A Fistful of Datas [6.8]
[edit]- Data: [in Texan accent] Howdy, commander!
- Data: You just sit tight. We'll have this all fixed up in time for supper.
- Worf: The town of Deadwood may face danger once again. If they do, they will need a sheriff...and a deputy.
The Quality of Life [6.9]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: I have always been a little suspicious of men in beards.
- Riker: My beard is not an affectation!
Chain of Command, Part I [6.10]
[edit]- [Edward Jellico is assigned as captain of the Enterprise]
- Edward Jellico: Oh, and get that fish out of the ready room.
Chain of Command, Part II [6.11]
[edit]- Edward Jellico: Data, I want to be in Minos Korva... in one hour.
- Data: Set course 350 mark 215 and engage warp 8.5.
- Gul Madred: I remember the first time I ate a live taspar. I was six years old and living on the streets of Lakat. There was a band of children, four, five...six years old—some even smaller, desperately trying to survive. We were thin, scrawny little animals, constantly hungry, always cold. We slept together in doorways, like packs of wild gettles, for warmth. Once I found a nest. Taspars had mated and built a nest in the eave of a burned-out building. And I found three eggs in it. It was like finding treasure. I cracked one open on the spot and ate it, very much as you just did. I planned to save the other two. They would keep me alive for another week. But of course, an older boy saw them and wanted them. And he got them. But he had to break my arm to do it.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Must be rewarding to you to...to repay others for all those years of misery.
- Gul Madred: What do you mean?
- Jean-Luc Picard: Torture has never been a reliable means of extracting information. It is ultimately self-defeating as a means of control. One wonders it is still practiced.
- Gul Madred: I fail to see where this analysis is leading.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Whenever I look at you now, I will not see a powerful Cardassian warrior; I will see a six-year-old boy who is powerless to protect himself.
- Gul Madred: Be quiet!
- Jean-Luc Picard: In spite of all you have done to me, I find you a pitiable man.
- Gul Madred: Picard, stop it. Or I will turn this on and leave you in agony all night!
- Jean-Luc Picard: Aha! You called me "Picard!"
- Gul Madred: What are the Federation's defense plans for Minos Korva?
- Jean-Luc Picard: There are four lights!
- Edward Jellico: Let's drop the ranks for a moment. I don't like you. I believe you're arrogant, insubordinate, willful, and I don't think you're a particularly good First Officer. But you are also the best pilot on the ship.
- William Riker: Well, now that the ranks are dropped, Captain...I don't like you, either. You ARE arrogant, and closed-minded. You need to control everyone and everything. You don't provide an atmosphere of trust, and you don't inspire these people to go out of their way for you. You've got everyone wound up so tight, there's no joy in anything. I don't think you're a particularly good Captain.
- Gul Madred: We acquired territory during the wars... we developed new resources... we initiated a rebuilding program... we have mandated agricultural programs. That is what the military has done for Cardassia. Because of that... my daughter will never have to worry about going hungry.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Her belly may be full... but her spirit will be empty.
- Gul Madred takes two steps and back hands Picard across the face. Picard staggers back, startled... but knowing he has scored on Madred.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Be careful... you're showing weakness...
- Gul Madred: Shall we begin again? How many lights are there?
- Jean-Luc Picard: What lights?
- Jean-Luc Picard: There...are...four...lights!
- Jean-Luc Picard: At the end, he gave me a choice: between a life of comfort...or more torture. All I had to do was say that...I could see five lights, when in fact there were only four.
- Deanna Troi: You didn't say it.
- Jean-Luc Picard: No. No. But I was going to. I would have told him anything. Anything at all. But more than that—I believed that I could see...five lights.
Ship in a Bottle [6.12]
[edit]- Moriarty: A deadline has a wonderful way of concentrating the mind.
Face of the Enemy [6.14]
[edit]- Beverly Crusher: (after restoring Troi's original appearance) Well, that about does it. How does it feel to have your own face back?
- Deanna Troi: (feeling her face with her hand) Just right. Thank you.
- Deanna Troi: The thanks should go to N'Vek. He sacrificed himself to save them - and me.
- Q: (Shakes Picard's hand) Welcome to the Afterlife Jean-Luc...You're dead!
- Q: You're dead, this is the afterlife...and I'm God
- Jean-Luc Picard: You are not God!
- Q: Blasphemy! You're lucky I don't cast you out or smite you or something. The bottom line is, your life ended about five minutes ago... under the inept ministrations of Dr. Beverly Crusher.
- Jean-Luc Picard: No. I am not dead. Because I refuse to believe that the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed!
- Q: Attention on deck, Ensign Picard!
- Picard: Q.
- Q: That's Captain Q to you, Young man!
- Q: You cheated, Picard? I'm impressed!
- Jean-Luc Picard: There are many parts of my youth that I'm not proud of. There were loose threads - untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads, it unraveled the tapestry of my life.
- Q: You mortals are so obtuse! Why do you persist in believing that life and death are such static and rigid concepts? Why I can take your life and give it back to you again with the snap of a finger!
- Q: [Dressed as a delivery boy] Flowers! Is there a John Luck Pickird here?
Birthright, Part I [6.16]
[edit]Birthright, Part II [6.17]
[edit]- Worf: There is no room in my heart for shame.
- Tokath: I give you one last chance to accept our way of life.
- Worf: Those are eloquent words, Tokath, but the truth is, I am being executed because I brought something dangerous to your young people-- knowledge.
- Worf: Knowledge of their origins, knowledge of the real reasons you are here in this camp.
- Worf: The truth is a threat to you.
- Tokath: Enough!
Starship Mine [6.18]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard:Will. The Kurlan civilization believed that an individual is a community of individuals. Inside us are many voices, each with its own desires, its own style, its own view of the world.
- [After Nu'Daq arm wrestles and head-butts Data]
- Data: My upper spinal support is a poly-alloy designed to withstand extreme stress. My skull is composed of cortenide and duranium.
- Data: You are attempting to bribe me.
- Nu'Daq: N-Not at all.
- Data: You suggested a plan that would work to your advantage. One that I would be capable of executing. You then implied a reward. Clearly you were...
- Nu'Daq: Commander..., never mind.
- Nu'Daq: What?! You incompetent toppa'
- Gul Ocett: He's right. For all we know, this might just be a recipe for biscuits!
- Nu'Daq: BISCUITS?! If that is what you believe, then go back to Cardassia. I will send you my mother's recipe.
- Ancient Humanoid: You're wondering who we are. Why we have done this. I stand before you, the image of a being from so long ago. Life evolved on my planet, before all others in this part of the galaxy. We left our world, explored the stars, and found none like ourselves. Our civilization thrived for ages. But what is the life of one race, compared to the vast stretches of cosmic time? We knew that one day we would be gone, and that nothing of us would survive. So we left you. Our scientists seeded the primordial oceans of many worlds, where life was in its infancy. The seed codes directed your evolution towards a physical form resembling ours. This body you see before you, which is of course shaped as yours is shaped, for you are the end result. The seed codes also contained this message, which was scattered in fragments on many different worlds. It was our hope that you would have to come together in fellowship and companionship to hear this message. And if you can see and hear me, our hope has been fulfilled. You are a monument, not to our greatness, but to our existence. That was our wish. That you too, would know life, and would keep alive our memory. There is something of us in each of you. And so, something of you in each other. Remember us.
- Nu'Daq: That's all?! If she were not dead, I would kill her.
- Gul Ocett: The very notion that a Cardassian could have anything in common with a Klingon... it turns my stomach.
- Romulian:"It would seem that we are not completely dissimilar after all; in our hopes, or in our fears."
- Jean-Luc Picard:"Yes…"
- Romulian:"Well then perhaps, one day…"
- Jean-Luc Picard:"…one day…"
Frame of Mind [6.21]
[edit]Suspicions [6.22]
[edit]Rightful Heir [6.23]
[edit]Second Chances [6.24]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: Dr. Fesbinder gave an hour long dissertation on the ionization of warp nacelles before he realized that the topic was supposed to be psychology.
- Geordi La Forge: Why didn't anybody tell him?
- Jean-Luc Picard: There was no opportunity. There was no pause. (droning) He-just-kept-talking-in-one-long-incredibly-unbroken-sentence, moving-from-topic-to-topic-so-that-no-one-had-the-chance-to-interrupt, it-was-really-quite-hypnotic.
Descent, Part I [6.26]
[edit]- [Lt. Cmdr. Data is playing poker with holographic forms of Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Sir Stephen Hawking.]
- Hawking: But then, I said, in that frame of reference, the perihelion of Mercury would have processed in the opposite direction.
- Einstein: [laughs] That is a great story!
- Data: Quite amusing, Dr. Hawking. [turns to Newton] You see, Sir Isaac, the joke depends on an understanding of the relativistic curvature of spacetime. If two non-inertial reference frames are in relative motion--
- Newton: Do not patronize me, sir. I invented physics. The day that apple fell on my head was the most momentous day in the history of science.
- Hawking: Not the apple story again.
- Data: That story is generally considered to be apocryphal.
- Newton: What?! How dare you!
- Einstein: Uh, perhaps we should return to the game, hmm? Now let's see, where were we? Yes, you [points at Hawking] raised Mr. Data four, which means that, um, the bet is...seven, to me?
- Newton: The bet is ten. Can't you do simple arithmetic? [sighs] I don't even know why I'm here in the first place. What is the point of playing this ridiculous game?
- Data: When I play poker with my shipmates, it often appears to be a useful forum for exploring the different facets of humanity. I was curious to see how three of history's greatest minds would interact in this setting. So far, it has proved to be most...illuminating.
- Einstein: And profitable. Heh heh heh...
- Newton: Can we get this over with, please? [to Hawking] It's your bet.
- Hawking: I raise fifty.
- Newton: Blast. I fold.
- Data: I fold as well.
- Einstein: The Uncertainty Principle will not help you now, Stephen, hmm? All the quantum fluctuations in the universe will not change the cards in your hand. I call. You are bluffing. And you will lose.
- Hawking: Wrong again, Albert.
- [a mechanical arm lowers, revealing that Hawking has a four of a kind.]
- Einstein: Well. Hmm...
- [the comm beeps]
- Riker (over comm): Red Alert! All personnel report to duty stations!
- Data: We will have to continue this another time. End program.
- Worf: Captain, incoming message from the New Berlin Colony. They have cancelled their distress call. Evidently a Ferengi trading ship entered their system and someone panicked.
- Riker: Third time today. Stand down Red Alert. Reduce speed. Return to our patrol route.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Mister Worf, acknowledge the signal from New Berlin, transmit another copy of Starfleet's ship-recognition protocols - and tell them to read it this time.
- Worf: Aye, sir.
- Riker: They were fast, aggressive, almost vicious. It was more like fighting Klingons than... [realizes] ...Borg. [to Worf] No offense.
- Worf: None taken.
Season 7
[edit]Descent, Part II [7.1]
[edit][Lore is trying to escape after attempting to destroy Data]
- Data: Lore.
- Lore: [chuckles nervously] You should be careful with that, brother. Someone could get hurt.
- Data: What are you doing?
- Lore: I've got a way out of here. I'm willing to forget what happened back there. Take you with me. We don't need anyone else. We're brothers. [Data does not respond] I'll give you the chip our father made. It contains much more than just emotions. It has memories. Memories... our father wanted you to have.
- [Lore lifs his fingernail and activates the emotion chip, Data flinches, Lore tries to fire his phaser at Data, Data fires back and approaches the fallen Lore]
- Data: Lore, I must deactivate you now.
- Lore: Without me, you will never feel emotion again.
- Data: I know. But you leave me no other choice.
- Lore: [shutting down] I... love you... brother...
- Data: Goodbye, Lore.
Gambit, Part I [7.4]
[edit]Gambit, Part II [7.5]
[edit]- Data: May I ask a personal favor?
- Worf: Yes?
- Data: Will you take care of Spot for me?
- Worf: Your animal?
- Data: I am concerned that if I have another waking dream, I may injure him.
- Worf: Of course. Spot, come here.
- Data: Unlike a canine, Spot will not respond to verbal commands.
- [Data picks up Spot and hands him to Worf, who is not quite sure how to handle the cat.]
- Data: Goodbye, Spot. He will need to be fed once a day. He prefers feline supplement one-twenty-five.
- Worf: I understand.
- Data: And he will require water. And you must also provide him with a sand box. And you must talk to him. Tell him he is a pretty cat, and a good cat, and—
- Worf: I will feed him.
- Data: Perhaps that will be enough.
- [Wolf walks away still awkwardly holding Spot as we hear Worf sneeze and Spot hiss in response.]
- Picard: What type of cake is that?
- Data: It is a cellular peptide cake.
- Worf: [With mouth full] With mint frosting.
- Riker: That's it! I can see that diplomacy is not going to get us anywhere today, and I do not have time to negotiate. So let's put all of our cards on the table. [to Lorin] You're concerned the Kes are going to be admitted to the Federation.
- Lorin: Correct.
- Riker: As First Officer of the Enterprise, I think I can promise you it is not going to happen. The Kes will be denied membership.
- Mauric: You have no authority to make that decision! Despite whatever games you played with the Prytt when you arrived, we still plan to take our petition directly to the Federation Council! They'll listen-!
- Riker: They will also listen to the reports of the Captain of the Enterprise and his First Officer! And I can tell you right now the First Officer's report will go something like this: "Kesprytt, a deeply troubled world with social, political, and military problems that they have yet to resolve. The Kes, while a friendly and democratic people, are driven by suspicion, deviousness, and paranoia. It is the opinion of this officer that they are not ready for membership."
Force of Nature [7.9]
[edit]- [Data is trying to train Spot not to jump on his computer console.]
- Data: This is down. Down is good.
- [Data picks Spot up.]
- Data: This is up. Up is no.
- [Geordi and Data are discussing Data's attempts to train Spot.]
- Data: I suppose I must accept that possibility. It may be that Spot lacks the intelligence necessary to learn the appropriate responses to my commands.
- [Spot looks up at Data and meows.]
- Data: Mmm?
- [Spot meows again.]
- Data: Ah.
- [Data takes a ball of yarn from his cabinet and lets Spot begin to play with it.]
- Geordi La Forge: I don't know about Spot, but it seems to me your training is coming along just fine. Let's go.
Inheritance [7.10]
[edit]- Wesley Crusher: Captain, we're receiving two-hundred and eighty-five thousand hails.
The Pegasus [7.12]
[edit]- [Picard is complaining about the art produced in his image by the ship's children for "Captain Picard Day," which he hates.]
- Picard: Well, they seem to have a somewhat exaggerated opinion of me.
- [Riker is holds up a child's sewn doll of Picard and imitates the captain's voice, as if the doll is speaking.]
- Riker: Oh, I don't know, I think the resemblance is rather striking. Wouldn't you agree, Number One?
- Picard: Isn't there something else you have to do?
- Riker: I'll be on the bridge!
- [Riker attempts to walk away with the Picard doll tucked in his arm.]
Lower Decks [7.15]
[edit]- Picard: [over ship's intercom] "To all Starfleet personel, this is the Captain. It is my sad duty to inform you that a member of the crew, Ensign Sito Jaxa has been lost in the line of duty. She was the finest example of a Starfleet officer and a young woman of remarkable courage and strength of character. Her loss will be deeply felt by all who knew her. Picard out."
Thine Own Self [7.16]
[edit]- Data: Geordi,…what…does it feel like…when a person is losing his mind?
- Data: Have I been dreaming again?
Eye of the Beholder [7.18]
[edit]- Worf: Do not approach me unannounced—especially while I am eating.
Journey's End [7.20]
[edit]Bloodlines [7.22]
[edit]- Jean-Luc Picard: One thing is clear: you'll never look at your hairline the same way again.
Preemptive Strike [7.24]
[edit]All Good Things... [7.25]
[edit]- Q: Oh, you'd like me to connect the dots for you, lead you from A to B to C, so that your puny mind could comprehend. How boring.
- Q: Goodbye, Jean-Luc. I'm gonna miss you…you had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end…
- [In Future Timeline]
- Geordi: [In distance] Captain Picard to the bridge. Captain we've got a problem with the warp core, or the phase inducers, or some other damn thing.
- Picard: Geordi!
- [At Cambridge University where Data holds the Lucasian Chair.]
- Jessel: If you're really his friend you'll get him to take that gray out of his hair.
- Data: Jessel...
- Jessel: Looks like a bloody skunk.
- Data: She can be frightfull trying at times, but, she does make me laugh.
- Geordi: Data, what is it with the hair anyway?
- Data: I've found that a touch of gray adds an air of distinction.
- Picard: You say this is Earl Grey, I'd swear that it was Darjeeling.
- Jessel: Hmm.
- Q: Time may be eternal, Captain, but our patience is not. It's time to put an end to your little "trek" through the stars; make room for other more…worthy species.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You're...going to deny us travel through space?
- Q: [to crowd] He doesn't understand! [to Picard] You obtuse piece of flotsam, you are to be denied existence. Humanity's fate has been sealed, you will be destroyed.
- [In Future Timeline]
- Q: [Appearing aged, raises an ear trumpet] Eh? What did she say, sonny? I couldn't quite hear her.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Q! What is going on? Where is the anomaly?
- Q: Where's your mommy? Well, I don't know!
- Q: You just don't get it, do you, Jean-Luc? The trial never ends. We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons. And for one brief moment, you did.
- Jean-Luc Picard: When I realized the paradox.
- Q: Exactly. For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you had never considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknowable possibilities of existence.
- Jean-Luc Picard: Q, what is it you're trying to tell me?
- [Q considers, then opens his mouth as if to answer...but changes his mind, steps back and smiles]
- Q: You'll find out. In any case, I'll be watching. And if you're very lucky I'll drop by to say hello from time to time. See you...out there.
- [Picard is playing poker with the senior staff for the first time.]
- Jean-Luc Picard: I should have done this a long time ago.
- Deanna Troi: You were always welcome.
- Jean-Luc Picard: So, five-card stud, nothing wild... and the sky's the limit.
- [Final line of the series]
Unidentified episode
[edit]- Worf: Those who rely on luck... never win the battle.
Miscellany
[edit]- "...to boldly go where no one has gone before."
- U.S.S. Enterprise-D dedication plaque.
Cast
[edit]- Patrick Stewart – Captain Jean-Luc Picard
- Jonathan Frakes – Commander William Riker
- Brent Spiner – Lieutenant Commander Data
- LeVar Burton – Geordi La Forge
- Michael Dorn – Lieutenant Worf
- Marina Sirtis – Counselor Deanna Troi
- Gates McFadden – Doctor Beverly Crusher [Season 1, Episodes 2.22–7.26]
- Wil Wheaton – Wesley Crusher [Episodes 1.1–4.9, "The Game", "The First Duty", "Parallels", "Journey's End"]
- Denise Crosby – Lieutenant Tasha Yar [Episodes 1.1–1.23, "Shades of Gray", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "All Good Things..."]
About Star Trek: The Next Generation
[edit]
- Gene's hands-on involvement in The Next Generation diminished greatly after the first season.
- Rick Berman as quoted in Tulock, John; Jenkins, Henry (1995). Science Fiction Audiences. p. 186
- Given Roddenberry's goal of a television series revolving around the adventures of a space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower, it is not surprising that much of the international structure would be based upon the law as it existed during the heyday of the fighting sail. In contrast to our contemporary world, in which international telephone communications are instantaneous and where travel from any one point on the globe to any other can be accomplished in under a day's time, the planets on ST:TNG sometimes go for decades without communicating with one another, and the time to travel form one planet to another (even at warp speed) is measured in days, weeks or years - not hours.
In such a decentralized legal system, there would not be enough repetition of practice to develop customary law.- Robert H. Chaires, Bradley Stewart Chilton; Star Trek Visions of Law and Justice, (2003), p. 99.
- I wrote the bible for that show, not Gene. He took credit for it, of course. And the idea of the older, more mature Captain — that was mine. That way we could keep the Captain on the bridge and make the first officer the Mission Specialist.
- David Gerrold, "A New Documentary Shows How Gene Roddenberry Almost Killed Star Trek TNG", Charlie Jane Anders, IO0, 7/30/15.
- We wanted to get away from the heavy, preachy, moralizing sci-fi of shows like Star Trek: TNG, which in my view took all the joie de vivre out of the original series.
- Lex Gigeroff, "A Sci Fi Worlds Interview with Lex Gigeroff:Lexx Co-Writer/Actor" Binn all of America.
- Star Trek is not like any other show because it is one unique vision, and if you agree with Gene Roddenberry's vision for the future, you should be locked up somewhere. It's wacky doodle, but it's his wacky doodle. If you can't deal with that, you can't do the show. There are rules on top of rules on top of rules...Gene sees this pollyanish view of the future where everything is going to be fine...I don't believe it, but you have to suppress all that and put it aside. You suspend your own feelings and your own beliefs, and you get with his vision...or you get rewritten.
- Maurice Hurley in Starlog issue 152, p. 29.
- During the years of Captain Kirk's Enterprise 4% of the galaxy has been charted -- not explored -- since exploration would have required visits to all the approximately 11,000,000,000 stars and planetary systems in that 4% of the galaxy. By the time of our 24th century stories, only 19% of it has been charted.
If only one of a million of the stars in the galaxy has worlds and if only one of out of a million of these worlds were capable of supporting life, and if only one out of a million were capable of supporting life, and if only one out of a million of those bore intelligent life, there would still be millions of inhabited worlds for us to visit.
- It is hard to overstate how much of a departure the “Star Trek” franchise’s eighties-and-nineties-straddling incarnation, “The Next Generation,” was from the original series. It retained much of the nomenclature and established codes (the inscrutable techno-scientific babble, the ship’s name, the naval ranks, the canonical alien species) but swung almost entirely toward the second, more cerebral form of science fiction. It had no anchor in the present, nor did it genuflect before America’s frontier myths. “The Next Generation” was wholesale utopia, a thought experiment on how humans would behave under terminally improved material circumstances. Civilization, and the future, had won.
- Manu Saadia, “The Enduring Lessons of “Star Trek””, The New Yorker, (September 8, 2016).
- “Star Trek: The Next Generation” has precious little to tell us about our present selves. Or, rather, it tells us who we are not, and who we might become someday. This is not the type of science fiction that we are accustomed to consuming, or that TV and film producers are accustomed to making.
- Manu Saadia, “The Enduring Lessons of “Star Trek””, The New Yorker, (September 8, 2016).
- I was very clear about what to expect. Star Trek: The Next Generation was going to be an utter failure and I would be on my way back to England within a few months. I could make some money for the first time in my life, get a suntan and go home.
- Patrick Stewart, "Patrick Stewart fondly recalls Star Trek: The Next Generation" Rob Salem, The Star, (March 8, 2013).
External links
[edit]
- Star Trek: The Next Generation quotes at the Internet Movie Database
- Star Trek: The Next Generation at StarTrek.com
 | |||
| Creator | Gene Roddenberry (1921–1991) | ||
| Television series | Star Trek (1966–1969) · The Animated Series (1973–1974) · The Next Generation (1987–1994) · Deep Space Nine (1993–1999) · Voyager (1995–2001) · Enterprise (2001–2005) · Discovery (2017–2024) · Picard (2020–2023) · Lower Decks (2020–2024) · Prodigy (2021–2024) · Strange New Worlds (2022–) | ||
| Feature films | The Original Series | The Motion Picture (1979) · The Wrath of Khan (1982) · The Search for Spock (1984) · The Voyage Home (1986) · The Final Frontier (1989) · The Undiscovered Country (1991) | |
| The Next Generation | Generations (1994) · First Contact (1996) · Insurrection (1998) · Nemesis (2002) | ||
| Reboot series | Star Trek (2009) · Into Darkness (2013) · Beyond (2016) | ||
| Video games | Borg (1996) · Klingon Academy (2000) | ||
| Proverbs | Klingon · Vulcan | ||
| Other | Star Trek franchise · Last words in Star Trek media · Jean-Luc Picard· Phase II | ||