Cool lines make films. They are the moments you remember, the highlights as it were, and you can quote me on that. Star Trek is no different and it's provided some great quotes throughout the years!Question: "What are your five favorite Star Trek quotes?"
Scott's Answer:
1. Spock: "It knows only that it needs, Commander. But, like so many of us, it does not know what." (Star Trek: TMP)
2. Kirk (to Gillian): "You're not exactly catching us at our best."
Spock: "That much is certain." (Star Trek IV)
3. Kirk: "What does God need with a starship?" (Star Trek V)
4. Data: "Believing oneself to be perfect is often the sign of a delusional mind." (Star Trek: First Contact)
5. Dr. Crusher: "If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe." (Star Trek: TNG "Remember Me")
Andrew's Answer:
1. Spock: "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." (Star Trek II)
2. Kirk: "Here it comes." (Star Trek II)
3. Kirk: "What does God need with a starship?" (Star Trek V)
4. Kirk: "We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill today." (Star Trek "A Taste of Armageddon)
5. Spock: "You may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. This is not logical, but it is often true." (Star Trek "Amok Time")
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toG6aSQFF7Y
ReplyDeleteThe best of all of them. Without it, we wouldn't be talking Trek today.
2, Scotty: "The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."
3, Kirk: "...your work today has been outstanding. I intend to recommend you all for promotion... in whatever fleet we end up serving."
4, Worf: "Commander, if winning is not important,then why keep score?"
5, Riker: "Mr Worf, FIRE!" Far more memorable than, "make it so". I always found the line wishy washy.
Only two from me:
ReplyDeleteWorf's "Today is a good day to die!"
Spock's (and sorta Kirk's) "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one."
"blood enough for the Praetor's taste"
ReplyDeleteRomulan Commander
"this man is a sorceror, he pulls the thoughts from my mind"
Romulan commander
This is from the episode where the romulans had the massive energy weapon but no warp drive...
Froget the name
All good quotes. I also add "the needs of the many."
ReplyDeleteJust posting a favourite throw away line.
ReplyDeleteMiles (to Riker) "I just woke up sir." Loved that one.
Will be back soon.
Max, "Risk is our business." So true.
ReplyDeleteI think your number three is an excellent quote! I laugh every time I hear that one.
MadMup, "Today is a good day to die!" is an excellent quote which gets much usage out of me. :)
ReplyDeleteIndi, That's "Balance of Terror" and that's an excellent episode with great writing.
ReplyDeleteDUQ, My guess is that the "needs of the many" quote is probably the most recognizable and maybe the most memorable.
ReplyDeletedarski, I don't remember that one? Was it in a movie or an episode?
ReplyDeleteI'm more ready with the TOS quotes than anything from the films.
ReplyDelete1. Kirk: "Peace, or utter destruction. It's up to you."
2. Scotty: (identifying an alien liquor) "It's green."
3. Harry Mudd: "You'll find out ship's captains are already married--to their vessels."
4. Spock: "Random chance seems to have operated in our favor."
McCoy: "In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've been lucky"
Spock: "I believe I said that, Doctor"
Oh, and there is also THIS SCENE from the TOS episode "Galileo Seven" (I had to find it on YouTube).
ReplyDeletetryanmax, I love that "we've been lucky" quote!
ReplyDeleteI also like, "the best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank."
And I love Daystrom's speech about rows and rows of fools laughing at the boy genius, getting famous building on my work! What a great "insane" speech.
tryanmax, That's an excellent scene as well. Poor Spock!
ReplyDeleteI also like the one about "is there anyone on this ship who even remotely looks like the Devil?" at the end of "The Omega Glory."
My! I forgot what a bully Kirk was to Spock. ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's what they would call it today. Then they would do a PSA about "even Vulcans can be bullied." Blech.
ReplyDelete"Live long and prosper!"
ReplyDeleteI also like the "what does God need with a starship" line.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, that's is actually probably the most famous quote... live long and prosper.
ReplyDelete@ Andrew - that quote was in an episode. Miles had been ordered to "take a nap" while Riker was being naughty. The he needed Miles' help in the next stage etc. it was a sweet moment where the job to be done was more important than the rules.
ReplyDeleteMy next offering - I'm trying to find more obscure bits since I agree about most of the major choices...
Sisco to Kira: go over my head again and I'll have yours on a platter.
Just checked since I remembered the line but not the ep in which it appeared. It was in "Pen Pals".
ReplyDeletedarski, That is obscure, I really don't remember it.
ReplyDeleteI think I remember the Sisco quote though.
My fav: "Never give up! Never surrender!"
ReplyDeleteOh, wait.
Scotty (to the Romulan commander in "The Enterprise Incident): "This is Lt. Commander Scott.....and we'll take as many of you with us as we can."
ReplyDeleteKirk (responding to the God Apollo's dictum that humans will again worshp "the gods."): "We find the ONE to be quite sufficient."
Great stuff, everyone! But I can't believe no one's quoted Garak yet...
ReplyDeleteBashir: "What I want to know is, out of all the stories you told me which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
Garak: "My dear doctor... they're all true."
Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Garak: "Especially the lies."
Garak (to the newly-arrived Ezri): "You're not worthy of the name Dax. I knew Jadzia. She was vital, alive. She owned herself, and you, you don't even know who you are. How dare you presume to help me? You can't even help yourself. Now get out of here before I say something unkind."
Also this Riker quote from a TNG episode whose title escapes me:
"Fate protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise."
OT: As a reminder, Without a Hitch is free today, right here: LINK.
ReplyDeleteK, Wrong Trek! LOL!
ReplyDeletePikeBishop, Scott is always great for a solid quote! :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite lines was from Deja Q when Q asks the bridge crew what he must do to prove he is human and Worf answers, "Die!" I just love that line.
ReplyDeleteIs TOS on Netflix? I gotta watch them again...
ReplyDeleteAndrew & Scott's #1s are both great (and I recognize them!)
Live long and prosper - Na-Nu Na-Nu
Scott, I remember that speech -- especially the lies. That was hilarious!
ReplyDeleteTJ, The delivery absolutely sold that line!
ReplyDeleterlaWTX -
ReplyDeleteALL the Trek series are on Netflix.
rlaWTX, NO! Not Na-nu na-nu! That's Mork! LOL!
ReplyDeleteYes, TOS is on Netflix, but it's the updated one with new effects.
Kirk: "Second star to the right...and straight on 'til morning" (Star Trek VI; Undiscovered Country).
ReplyDeleteSulu: "Target that explosion and fire!" (Ibid)
Spock: "There's an old Vulcan proverb: only Nixon can go the China." (Ibid)
"You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon" (Ibid)
Martia: "Not everyone keeps their genitals in the same place, Captain." (Ibid)
The sixth movie is one of my favorites.
Koshcat, Clearly! And those are all excellent lines. I particularly like the Klingon saying you have to read Shakespeare in the original Klingon. LOL!
ReplyDeleteHe's dead, Jim.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0yXqU-w9U0
It's funny you bring up Star Trek V, especially because it reflects on the attitudes of the religious. Kirk's questioning of the God impersonator was perhaps the quintessential quote of the film, in the sense that he came to the realization that seriously, if this is God, the all-powerful creator of the universe, why can't he just freely traverse it faster than any warp drive can (assuming Isaac Newton's clockwork argument is correct) or at least pop in anywhere, at anytime (assuming Leibniz's clock tuner argument is correct). Then there's the follow-up quote that Kirk gives, "God lives in our hearts" (reference to 1 John 4:12?) Either way, Shattner really stole the show in Star Trek V for me, with his religion quotes. Anyways, it's also overall great in the subplot of Spock and his Brother, as well as putting together the origin stories of the cast, and tying off the loose ends there.
ReplyDeleteOutlaw, How could we forget that one? LOL!
ReplyDeleteLINK
obiwan, I've come to like Star Trek V a lot more precisely because it does explore those issues. It's asking the hard questions the original show asked and which the movies have largely ignored. And that quote is particularly brilliant because it distills the essence of the whole premise of the film into that one moment -- it gives the movie meaning.
ReplyDelete"I lied. I cheated. I bribed a man to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to muder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again.... I would."- Ben Sisko [i]In the Pale Moonlight[/i]
ReplyDeleteGreat quotes!
ReplyDeleteI contend that virtually the entire episode of The Trouble With Tribbles counts. There's a goldmine of quotable quotes in that one.
Scott: Well, Captain, er, the Klingons called you a... a... a tin-plated overbearing, swaggering dictator with delusions of godhood.
Capt. Kirk: Is that all?
Scott: No, sir. They also compared you with a Denebian slime devil.
Capt. Kirk: I see.
Scott: And then they said that you were...
Capt. Kirk: I get the picture, Scotty.
Scott: Yes, sir.
Capt. Kirk: And after they said all this, that's when you hit the Klingons.
Scott: No, sir.
Capt. Kirk: No?
Scott: No, er, I didn't. You told us to avoid trouble.
Capt. Kirk: Oh, yes.
Scott: Well, I didn't see that it was worth fighting about. After all, we're big enough to take a few insults, aren't we?
Capt. Kirk: What was it they said that started the fight?
Scott: They called the Enterprise a garbage scow! Sir.
Capt. Kirk: I see. And that's when you hit the Klingon?
Scott: Yes, sir.
Capt. Kirk: You hit the Klingons because they insulted the Enterprise, not because they...
Scott: Well, sir, this was a matter of pride!
Capt. Kirk: All right, Scotty. Dismissed. Oh, Scotty, you're restricted to quarters until further notice.
Scott: Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. That'll give me a chance to catch up on my technical journals.
This one is in many episodes/movies:
ReplyDeleteSpock: Fascinating.
Kirk: Khaaaannn!
ReplyDeleteCapt. Kirk: Cyrano Jones, a Klingon agent?
ReplyDelete[laughs]
Nilz Baris: You heard me.
Capt. Kirk: I heard you.
Spock: He simply could not believe his ears.
Shawn, That's a heck of a start to that episode. I still remember that speech. Well done!
ReplyDeleteBen, "The Trouble With Tribbles" is quote gold.
ReplyDeleteScotty: "Where they'll be no tribble at all." LOL!
Chekov: "It is a Russian invention."
Kirk: "I've never questioned the competence of a Starfleet official. . . until now."
Ben, Of course, Khhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
ReplyDeleteOh how could I forget ....
ReplyDeleteIn the one where the computer decides the casualties ....
Scott to Politician trying to take over the enterprise:
"The Best Diplomat I know is a fully loaded Phaser Bank"
McCoy: Once, just once, I'd like to land someplace and say, "Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel".
ReplyDeleteSpock: I fail to see the humor in that situation Doctor.
McCoy: Naturally. You could hardly claim to be an angel with those pointed ears, Mr. Spock. But say you landed someplace with a pitchfork.....
Indi, That's one of Scotty's best quotes in the series!
ReplyDeleteJJ, That was another great moment! The series really is full of great moments.
ReplyDeleteMcCoy: I don't know what's causing it. Virus, bacteria or evil spirits, but I'm trying to find out.
ReplyDelete(Sounds like the US government doesn't it?)
That indeed sounds like our government. It spreads like a virus and it's run by evil spirits.
ReplyDeleteCharlie X: "No! Please! I want to sta-aay... sta-aay... sta-aayy..." (Charlie X)
ReplyDeleteCorbomite alien: "But first, the Tranya...." *lip-smack* "Ahhhh..." (The Corbomite Manueuver)
Stella, android wife duplicate: "Harrrr-court! Harcourt Fenton Mudd, where have you been? What have you been up to? Have you been drinking again? You miserable SOT! You good-for-nothingg-thingg-thinggg..." (I, Mudd)
Kara, pretty alien brain-thief: "BRAIN and BRAIN! What is BRAIN?!?" (Spock's Brain)
Captain Pike: *Beep* (The Menagerie)
Andrew, I believe Shawn's DS9 quote was at the end of that (excellent) episode.
ReplyDeleteHere's an Odo quote from another episode:
"Commence station security log, Stardate 47282.5. At the request of Commander Sisko, I will hereafter be recording a daily log of law enforcement affairs. The reason for this exercise is beyond my comprehension, except perhaps that humans have a compulsion to keep records and lists and files, so many in fact that they have to invent new ways to store them microscopically; otherwise, their records would overrun all known civilizations. My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice to this official record of this day: Everything's under control. End log."
I can't remember the episode name, but it's about the Borg in TNG.
ReplyDeletePicard: How do we reason with them (the Borg), let them know that we're not a threat?
Guinan: You don't.
It's amazing to me how naive Picard often was...
There's also an episode where Q asks Worf "Eaten any good books lately?"
ReplyDeleteQ was always good with the one liners... I always wondered if DeLancey ad-libbed those or if they were scripted. He always seemed one of the better written characters to me.
From DS9 season 1:
ReplyDeleteQ: (stunned and shocked after Sisko slugs him): You hit me ... Picard never hit me!
Sisko: I'm not Picard.
From ST IV:
McCoy: "The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe."
From First Contact:
Picard (after Lily hands over her stolen phaser): "Maximum setting. If you had fired, you would have disintegrated me."
Lily: "It's my first ray gun."
Also from First Contact, when Lily challenges Picard over staying on the Enterprise instead of blowing up the ship. The whole scene is fantastic, starting with Lily's charging into Picard's ready room and calling him "You son of a b**ch!" The climax of this terrific scene comes when Picard says this:
"I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already, too many retreats. They invade our space, and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, and no further! And I will make them PAY for what they've done!"
Finally, from DS9's "The Way of the Warrior", after a bunch of Klingons beat up Garak.
Bashir: They broke seven of your transverse ribs and fractured your clavicle.
Garak: Ah, but I got off several cutting remarks which no doubt did serious damage to their egos.
-- Big Mo
Scott, My mistake. I remember the scene but forgot where it sat in the episode.
ReplyDeleteFloyd, That was a cool quote -- "you can't." Short, simple, powerful. And you are right, Picard can get pretty naive.
ReplyDeleteBig Mo, I remember that line from Bashir and it was hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI also like the McCoy quote a lot.
Star Trek really has had a lot of cool quotes.
"He tasks me, he tasks me and I shall have him. I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares Maelstrom and round Perdition's Flames before I give him up."
ReplyDeleteI shall leave eyou as you lett me, as you left her, marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet. Buried alive, buried alive . . . "
"KHAAAAAN!!!!!!!"
Kit, One of my friends and I used to argue about that line. I said that Khan says "tasks me" and my friend says that Khan says "asks me." It wasn't until we got the DVD with subtitles that we were able to settle the dispute.
ReplyDelete"I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
ReplyDeleteThe whole scene is amazing, look at how Spock straightens his uniform before talking to Kirk.
And then there is Kirk's "No."
As one of the commenters at youtube said, "@2:35 -- Note to George Lucas et. al. -- When someone in mourning lets loose a grief-saturated "No," it sounds like *this*."
Live long and prosper.
There was Big bang episode where Sheldon used the "He tasks me" quote... pretty funny delivery.
ReplyDelete(Andrew, I knew the diff - just remembered the similar hand gestures...)
rlaWTX, I know you did, I figured you were kidding! I enjoyed your joke very much!
ReplyDeleteAnon -
ReplyDeleteMcCoy's "The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe" line is one of my favorites as well and according to the filmmakers on the DVD extras, this line got a huge reaction... in the USSR!
Andrew and Kit -
If I'm not mistaken, Khan's "I'll chase him..." speech was an homage to Moby Dick.
Scott, That is true about Khan's speech. Also, the "revenge is a dish best served cold" line was not invented here. It goes way back.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was "revenge is a dish best served on a bed or rice." But I've been wrong about these things before.
ReplyDeletetryanmax, That's the original.
ReplyDelete"If I'm not mistaken, Khan's "I'll chase him..." speech was an homage to Moby Dick."
ReplyDeleteYep!
"He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him."
---------------
"McCoy's "The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe" line is one of my favorites as well and according to the filmmakers on the DVD extras, this line got a huge reaction... in the USSR!"
Reminds me of a USSR Joke where a Western reporter goes up to a Russian worker and asks "Is it true that you and your fellow workers here aren't being paid fairly for your work?"
"No, comrade. Of course not. They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work."
Scott:
ReplyDeleteThat's an excellent quote! And there's a lot of truth there.
I hated doing paperwork while I was in the Navy or as a security guard and cop.
To make it more fun I tended to get creative at times.
Unfortunately, not all officers have a sense of humor. :^)
For me, throughout the years, there is one exceptional standout line, from all of Star Trek, one which I feel is 110% accurate... and very profound... and it is this:
ReplyDeleteSpock: After a while, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting. It is not logical. But it is often true.
Beautiful line and wow, does it ring true throughout life.
Holy Christ, just read this one (above):
ReplyDeleteFrom KIT
"I have been, and always shall be, your friend."
The whole scene is amazing, look at how Spock straightens his uniform before talking to Kirk.
And then there is Kirk's "No."
I got CHILLS when I read that, man. That has always been a powerful moment for me in ALL of Trek. Well played, sir.