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Jean-Luc Picard

fictional Star Trek character

Jean-Luc Picard (13 July 2305–) is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe, the captain of the USS Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-E. He was played by British actor Patrick Stewart in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the subsequent films and the streaming television series Star Trek: Picard.

Let's make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise.

Quotes

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It's our mortality that defines us. It's part of the truth of our existence.
 
Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we've lived.
 
That is what it is to be human. To make yourself more than you are.
 
There can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.
 
Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
 
You cannot explain away a wantonly immoral act because you think it is connected to some higher purpose.
 
Things are only impossible until they're not!
 
Time is one thing we do not have in abundance.
 
Remembrance and regrets, they too are a part of friendship.
 
There is no greater challenge than the study of philosophy. Open your mind to the past. Art, history, philosophy. And all this may mean something.
 
Excessive honesty can be disastrous, particularly in a commander. Knowing your limitations is one thing. Advertising them to a crew can damage your credibility as a leader.
 
Trust requires time and experience.
 
Communication is a matter of patience, imagination.
 
Every choice we make allows us to manipulate the future. A person's life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices. Living is making choices.
 
There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle; it's just a matter of finding it.
 
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.
 
Shall I tell you what true evil is? It is to submit to you. It is when we surrender our freedom, our dignity instead of defying you.
 
We are what we are, and we're doing the best we can. It is not for you to set the standards by which we should be judged!
 
I prefer to look on the future as something which is not written in stone.
 
And the sky's the limit.
 
And like a thousand other commanders on a thousand other battlefields, I wait for the dawn.
 
You have a past. You have a story, just waiting to be claimed.
 
The past is written, but the future is left for us to write, and we have powerful tools: openness, optimism, and the spirit of curiosity.
 
To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination.
 
Fear is an incompetent teacher.
 
Seize today for we know nothing of tomorrow.
 
Distance offers no protection from time.
 
History’s darkest moments can be a tipping point for change.
 
Change always comes later than we think it should.
 
Fear is fear. It doesn't speak in riddles. Fear means you're smart. You understand the risks.
 
Even in the darkest circumstances, there is a light. Sometimes only a glimmer. Trust that light. Find a way back. No matter what it takes.
 
There are moments in our lives we fear to relive and others we long to repeat. While time cannot give us second chances, maybe people can.
 
Make a good future.
 
We all need connection. Don't we?
 
Time is precious.
 
Those were the days.
 
Fate has a way of surprising us.
 
We are not in control of what we pass on. Strengths, wisdom, talent, and also flaws. Weaknesses. Sins of our past.
 
You don't leave the doors open if you want to keep the wolves out.
 
The stars have always been in my favor.
  • [voiceover] Captain's Personal Log. The crew has responded with the dedication I've come to expect of them. And like a thousand other commanders on a thousand other battlefields, I wait for the dawn.
  • I came here to finde safety. But one is never safe from the past.
    • Star Trek Picard: New York Comic-Con Trailer. Source: Patrick Stewart (5 October 2019): Star Trek Picard: New York Comic-Con Trailer | #StarTrekPicard. January 23, 2020. Star Trek on CBS All Access Amazon Prime Video UK CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Facebook page of Patrick Stewart.
  • The past is written, but we are left to write the future.
    • Star Trek Picard: New York Comic-Con Trailer. Source: Patrick Stewart (5. October 2019): Star Trek Picard: New York Comic-Con Trailer | #StarTrekPicard. January 23, 2020. Star Trek on CBS All Access Amazon Prime Video UK CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Facebook page of Patrick Stewart.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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  • Sometimes, Riker, the best way to win a fight is not to be there.
  • [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.
    • "The Battle" (16 November 1987) by Larry Forrester
  • What a piece of work is a 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!
  • 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.
  • You say you are true evil? Shall I tell you what true evil is? It is to submit to you. It is when we surrender our freedom, our dignity instead of defying you.
  • [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.
  • Your Honour, Starfleet was founded to seek out new life. Well, there it sits!
Picard: Easily? Oh no, not easily. We handle it because we're trained to, as you will be. Tea, Earl Grey, hot. But if the time ever comes when the death of a single individual fails to move us-
  • Mr. La Forge, time is one thing we do not have in abundance.
    • "Contagion" (20 March 1989) by Steve Gerber and Beth Woods
    • 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.
  • These officers are here to assist you. Not judge, help you. You should make use of them. They are a valuable resource. And by the way, I respect an officer who is prepared to admit ignorance and ask a question, rather than one who out of pride will blunder blindly forward.
    • "Pen Pals" (1 May 1989) by Hannah Louise Shearer
  • There is a loneliness inherent in that whisper from the darkness.
    • "Pen Pals" (1 May 1989) by Hannah Louise Shearer
  • Remembrance and regrets, they too are a part of friendship.
    • "Pen Pals" (1 May 1989) by Hannah Louise Shearer
  • Q: What justifies that smugness?
    Jean-Luc Picard: Not smugness, not arrogance. But we are resolute, we are determined, and your help is not required.
    • "Q Who" (8 May 1989) by Maurice Hurley
  • Well, perhaps what we most needed was a kick in our complacency, to prepare us ready for what lies ahead.
    • "Q Who" (8 May 1989) by Maurice Hurley
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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • William Riker: You enjoyed that.
    Jean-Luc Picard: You're damned right.
    • "The Ensigns of Command" (2 October 1989) by Melinda M. Snodgrass. See also: The middle of Youtube Video "TNG Picard owns the Sheliak (Ensigns of Command)" (08.02.2012) by user "trekclip123". Context: Picard exploits a loophole in the treaty with the Sheliak and offers the Sheliak a choice: either wait six months for third-party arbitrators, or give Picard three weeks to evacuate the colony. Outmaneuvered, the Sheliak agree to the three weeks.
  • 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.
  • Tomalak: I urge you, Captain Picard, surrender. Consider the men and women you would lead into a lost cause.
    Jean-Luc Picard: If the cause is just and honourable, they are prepared to give their lives. Are you prepared to die today, Tomalak?
  • 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.
  • Being first at any cost is not always the point.
    • "Tin Man" (23 March 1990) by Dennis Putman Bailey and David Bischoff
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: This isn't the end.
Picard: You say that with remarkable assuredness.
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.
  • Jean-Luc Picard: 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.
  • Captain Benjamin Maxwell: You're a fool, Picard. History will look at you and say this man was a fool.
Picard: I'll accept the judgement of history.
  • 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 moustache 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.
  • In my experience, communication is a matter of patience, imagination. I would like to believe these are qualities we have in sufficient measure.
  • You hoped this would happen, didn't you? You knew there was a dangerous creature on this planet and you knew from the tale of Darmok that a danger shared might sometimes bring two people together. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. You and me, here, at El-Adrel.
    • "Darmok" (30 September 1991) by Joe Menosky and Phillip LaZebnik. See also partially: End of Youtube Video "Darmok, under 8 minutes" (25.04.2023) by user "Rikerish".
  • Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, the Homeric Hymns. One of the root metaphors of our own culture.
    William Riker: For the next time we encounter the Tamarians?
    Jean-Luc Picard: More familiarity with our own mythology might help us to relate to theirs. The Tamarian was willing to risk all of us just for the hope of communication, connection. Now the door is open between our peoples. That commitment meant more to him than his own life.
  • Every choice we make allows us to manipulate the future. Do I ask Adrienne or Suzanne to the spring dance? Do I take my holiday on Corsica or on Risa? A person's life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices. Living is making choices. Now you ask me to believe that if I make a choice other than the one found in your history books, then your past will be irrevocably altered. Well, you know, Professor, perhaps I don't give a damn about your past, because your past is my future and as far as I'm concerned, it hasn't been written yet.
  • 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!
  • You cannot explain away a wantonly immoral act because you think it is connected to some higher purpose.
  • I would rather die as the man I was than live the life I just saw.

Star Trek: Picard

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Laris: Bad dreams?
Jean-Luc Picard: The dreams are lovely. It's the waking up that I'm beginning to resent.
  • Sitting here, all these years, nursing my offended dignity, writing books of history people prefer to forget. I never asked anything of myself at all. [...] I haven’t been living. I’ve been waiting to die.
  • I'm not in the habit of consulting lawyers before I do what needs to be done.
Raffi Musiker: But you remember what we used to say back then?
Jean-Luc Picard: One impossible thing at a time.
  • But murder is not justice. There is no solace in revenge. You have had your humanity restored to you. Don't squander it now.
  • Changed? The Borg? They coolly assimilate entire civilizations, entire systems, in a matter of hours. They don't change! They metastasize.
    • The Impossible Box (February 27, 2020) by Nick Zayas
William Riker: That time you were flying off to Romulus, to plan the Great Supernova Rescue. Do you remember what I said?
Jean-Luc Picard: 'So you want to be ass-deep in Romulans for the rest of your life?'
William Riker: I believe I also reminded you of Newton's Fourth Law of Thermodynamics.
Jean-Luc Picard: No good deed goes unpunished.
William Riker: Classic Picard arrogance. You get to make the decisions about who gets to take the chances and who doesn't, and who's in the loop and who's out of the loop, and, naturally, it always ends up with you. And that's fine on the bridge of your starship, captain, but now you're dealing with a teenager, more or less. That can be an extremely humbling experience. Frankly, not sure you're up to it.
Jean-Luc Picard: Perhaps I'm not.
William Riker: There you go. Baby steps.
Jean-Luc Picard: Baby steps.
Kirsten Clancy: That's a hell of a report.
Jean-Luc Picard: And you thought I was a desperate old man. Quixotic, paranoid, possibly senile…
Kirsten Clancy: Let's just leave it at quixotic.
Jean-Luc Picard: And now the windmills have turned out to be giants.
  • Broken Pieces (March 12, 2020) by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon
  • You have a past. You have a story, just waiting to be claimed.
    • Broken Pieces (March 12, 2020) by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon
  • The past is written, but the future is left for us to write, and we have powerful tools, Rios: openness, optimism, and the spirit of curiosity. All they have is secrecy, and fear, and fear is the great destroyer, Rios.
    • Broken Pieces (March 12, 2020) by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon
  • Data's capacity for expressing and processing emotion was limited. I suppose we had that in common.
    • Broken Pieces (March 12, 2020) by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon
  • There's a difference between killing an attacking enemy and watching a wounded one die.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 1 (March 19, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman & Akiva Goldsman
  • One more thing. Uh, I have a brain abnormality. I've known for years. Uh, I never had any symptoms, so I never thought much about it. However, just before we left the Earth, I learned that my condition was more acute. The prognosis was terminal, and there is no effective treatment. There will be no further discussion. Anyone who treats me like a dying man will run the risk of pissing me off.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 1 (March 19, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman & Akiva Goldsman
  • Well, hope and the odds make poor bedfellows.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 1 (March 19, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Ayelet Waldman & Akiva Goldsman
  • To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
  • But fear is an incompetent teacher.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
  • To be alive is a responsibility. As well as a right.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
  • It says a great deal about the mind of Commander Data that, looking at the human race with all its violence and corruption, willful ignorance, he could still see kindness, the immense curiosity, and greatness of spirit. And he wanted, more than anything else, to be part of that, to be part of the human family.
    • Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
  • Seize today for we know nothing of tomorrow.
    • The Star Gazer (March 3, 2022) by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas
  • We often refer to space as the final frontier. But the older I get, the more I come to believe that the true final frontier is time. In command, as in life, what we do in crisis often weighs upon us less heavily than what we wish we had done, what could have been. Time offers many opportunities, but it rarely offers second chances. And as steps forward go I would like to acknowledge your classmate the first fully Romulan cadet at Starfleet Academy: Elnor. May you all go boldly into a future freed from the shackles of the past. I stand before you the last Picard. My ancestor captained the second ship, behind Jacques Cartier. A great-great cousin Renee Picard was instrumental in early exploration of this solar system. Yet I choose to leave you with the words of my mother, who was no explorer at all. When I was a boy she would point to the night sky and say, "Look up, Jean-Luc, and let's see what's out there".
    • The Star Gazer (March 3, 2022) by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas
  • We cannot live in this reality. If we want to save the future, then we have to repair the past.
    • Penance (March 3, 2022) by Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette (Teleplay) as well as by Michael Chabon and Akiva Goldsman & Terry Matalas and Christopher Monfette (Story)
Agnes Jurati: It’s only a partial assimilation.
Jean-Luc Picard: Halfway to hell is still not a recommended destination.
  • Distance offers no protection from time.
    • Watcher (March 24, 2022) by Juliana James & Jane Maggs (Teleplay) as well as by Travis Fickett & Juliana James (Story)
  • History’s darkest moments can be a tipping point for change.
    • Watcher (March 24, 2022) by Juliana James & Jane Maggs (Teleplay) as well as by Travis Fickett & Juliana James (Story)
  • Guinan! Don't leave the Earth just yet. I know you're done with listening, but you're not done with humanity. Change always comes later than we think it should.
    • Watcher (March 24, 2022) by Juliana James & Jane Maggs (Teleplay) as well as by Travis Fickett & Juliana James (Story)
  • Renée Picard:: Sometimes, fear is a friendly reminder you're not ready for something.
    Jean-Luc Picard: No! Fear is fear. It doesn't speak in riddles. Fear means you're smart. You understand the risks.
    • Two of One (April 7, 2022) by Cindy Appel & Jane Maggs
  • I've found that even in the darkest circumstances, there is a light. Sometimes only a glimmer. Trust that light. Find a way back. No matter what it takes.
    • Two of One (April 7, 2022) by Cindy Appel & Jane Maggs
  • Or the promise of legacy revealed the rot that is hidden underneath it.
    • Hide and Seek (April 28, 2022) by Matt Okumura & Chris Derrick
  • There are moments in time we wish we could travel back to. Memories. Pieces of life better lived in reverse. In those moments, tragic endings might rewind into joyful beginnings. Moments of loss into those of gains. I remember now, in a cloudy moment of extreme melancholy, my mother hung herself here in this place. And for all I've lived, all I've seen and done, I suppose this is the moment I've kept myself from remembering, this moment I am so powerless to reverse. My mother was ill, I'm told, but I only ever thought she was inspired. That night, my father had locked her into her room for her own safety. Perhaps for mine, as well. But she begged me to help her, told me how much she needed me, how much she needed my help. And this is the part I've spent my whole life trying not to remember. I thought I was saving her. So, after he fell asleep, I let her out, you see. If only I had left that door closed, she might have become an old woman. I used to imagine seeing her older, offering me a cup of tea and asking for a chat. This skeleton key migrated all over the house. I wish, that day, it hadn't ended up in my hand. I loved her. Desperately.
    • Hide and Seek (April 28, 2022) by Matt Okumura & Chris Derrick
  • I refuse to accept an outcome that has not yet occurred. Come. We have work to do.
    • Hide and Seek (April 28, 2022) by Matt Okumura & Chris Derrick
  • Make a good future.
    • Farewell (May 5, 2022) by Christopher Monfette and Akiva Goldsman
  • There are moments in our lives we fear to relive and others we long to repeat. While time cannot give us second chances, maybe people can.
    • Farewell (May 5, 2022) by Christopher Monfette and Akiva Goldsman
  • Y’know, there will be a time when you will need to remember that no matter how bleak or unwinnable a situation, as long as you and your crew remain steadfast in your dedication, one to another, you are never ever without hope.
    • No Win Scenario (March 9, 2023) by Terry Matalas & Sean Tretta
  • I think we all need connection. Don't we?
    • No Win Scenario (March 9, 2023) by Terry Matalas & Sean Tretta
  • [to Beverly Crusher] Look, I know that time is precious, but do you think you could give me a moment or two with Jack?
    • No Win Scenario (March 9, 2023) by Terry Matalas & Sean Tretta
  • You’re only ever really as good as those around you. Your crew become a part of you. Complete you. They lift you up to accomplish the things you never could do alone.
    • No Win Scenario (March 9, 2023) by Terry Matalas & Sean Tretta
William Riker: You know, we have saved the galaxy more than a few times.
Jean-Luc Picard: And hopefully they'll remember.
Liam Shaw: Or they might remember that time that someone hot-dropped the saucer section of the Enterprise-D on a planet. Or that time that someone threw the Prime Directive out the window so they could snog a villager on Ba'ku. Or the time that you boys nearly wiped out all of humanity by creating a time paradox in the Devron system. Basically, when it comes to rescues from danger... you two have a real "chicken and egg" thing happening.
Jean-Luc Picard: Those were the days.
    • Imposters (March 16, 2023) by Cindy Appel & Chris Derrick
  • Fate has a way of surprising us.
    • The Bounty (March 23, 2023) by Christopher Monfette
Geordy La Forge: [speaking to Jean-Luc Picard about his daughter Sydney La Forge] Sidney, she was the hard one. Just stubborn. In truth, she probably got it from me. You always want to impart the best aspects of yourself to them.
Jean-Luc Picard: I've recently been reminded that we are not in control of what we pass on. Strengths, wisdom, talent, and also flaws. Weaknesses. Sins of our past.
    • The Bounty (March 23, 2023) by Christopher Monfette
Dr. Altan Inigo Soong: Before I gifted Picard my golem my intention was to live beyond my years. To become my own legacy. Now I see, in my final days, that wasn't just poor humanity, it was poor science. Because evolution is not an act of preservation. It's addition.


  • You don't leave the doors open if you want to keep the wolves out.
    • The Last Generation (April 20, 2023) by Terry Matalas
  • There is a tide in the affairs of men
    Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
    Omitted, all the voyage of their life
    Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
    On such a full sea are we now afloat;
    And we must take the current when it serves,
    Or lose our ventures.
William Riker: Hope you're feeling lucky, Jean-Luc.
Jean-Luc Picard: You know, Will, I've come to believe that the stars have always been in my favor.
  • The Last Generation (April 20, 2023) by Terry Matalas

Quotes about Picard

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Jean-Luc Picard! Chief contact with the Q Continuum. Arbiter of succession for the Klingon Empire. Savior of Earth from Borg invasion. Captain of the Enterprises D and E. The man even worked alongside the great Spock. ~ Santiago Cabrera
 
He, too, has a knack for the, um, poetic drive-by observation. Can be very annoying. But it can also make a person feel seen. ~ Seven of Nine
 
The bridge of the Enterprise, under the moderate and controlled command of Captain Picard, is a locus of "enlightened understanding." ~ Rosemarie Garland Thomson
Alphabetized by author
  • Captain Picard, is the exact opposite of a Hollywood action-hero.
    • Dirk Baecker, in Inclusion/ Exclusiom (2002), p. 76
  • K'mpec: After I die, you will act in my name to arbitrate the struggle for power.
    Jean-Luc Picard: I will?
    K'mpec: No one on the Council can be trusted, and I have my reasons for wanting an outsider.
    Jean-Luc Picard: K'mpec, you cannot possibly be serious. A Federation officer has no business in ...
    K'mpec: Nonsense. You are an accomplished mediator. This is no different than any other dispute requiring your services.
  • Picard stands as the bearer of Starfleet's conscience and an exemplar of moral autonomy.
    • Kevin Decker and Jason Eberl Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008), p. 141
  • Captain Picard is perceived to be a gentler soul than Captain Kirk.
    • Marc Dipaol, in War, Politics and Superheroes : Ethics and Propaganda in Comics and Film (2011), p. 30
Jack Crusher: Which one's that?
  • Seven of Nine: The USS Voyager. She made her name farther out than... any of those other relics had ever gone. I was reborn there. She was my home. Her crew were my family. And now...
Jack Crusher: You're just trying to find another. We all long for connection. But we're just a little bit alone, aren't we? Stars in the same galaxy, but light-years between us.
  • Seven of Nine: Oh, you are definitely your father's son. He, too, has a knack for the, um, poetic drive-by observation. Can be very annoying. But it can also make a person feel seen.
  • The new captain of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard, is the wise man. He rules the Enterprise with a sagely wisdom.
  • Patrick Stewart's identification with Jean-Luc Picard is a prime exemplar of the extreme entanglement between actor and character produced by cult television programs, yet in Stewart's case this entanglement has not precluded a very active and successful post-Star Trek career.
    • Sara Gwenllian-Jones and Roberta E. Pearson, in Cult Television (2004), p. 65
  • 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.
  • Those ... who are familiar with the character Captain Picard, already know him to be the leader that we all wish we worked for, whose leadership gives us confidence and comfort in meeting the challenges we face each and every day, and the type of leader that we should strive to become.
    • Wess Roberts and Bill Ross in Make It So : Leadership Lessons from Star Trek, The Next Generation (1995), p. xi
  • William T. Riker: Wes, responsibility and authority go hand in hand. I know you're responsible, now we've got to teach you a little bit of authority. One of the reasons you've been given command is so you can make a few right decisions, that will establish a pattern of success and help build self-confidence. If you don't trust your own judgment, you don't belong in the command chair.
    Wesley Crusher: But what if I'm wrong?
    William T. Riker: Then you're wrong. It's arrogant to think you'll never make a mistake.
    Wesley Crusher: But what if it's something really important. I mean, not just a mineral survey. What if someone dies because I made a mistake?
    William T. Riker: In your position, it's important to ask yourself one question. What would Picard do?
    Wesley Crusher: He'd listen to everyone's opinion, then make his own decision. But he's Captain Picard.
    • "Pen Pals" (1 May 1989) by Hannah Louise Shearer
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  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
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