- [Picard has trapped the Sheliak in their own contract]
- Commander William T. Riker: You enjoyed that.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: You're damned right.
- [Data has stunned some colonists with a phaser]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: That was the stun setting.
- [he changes it]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: This is not.
- Gosheven: I really was willing to stay here and die for this.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I know that. This is just a thing. And things can be replaced. Lives cannot.
- Commander William T. Riker: Gentlemen, we're giving you an assignment. The one thing we don't want to hear is that it's impossible.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I need the transporters to function, despite the hyperonic radiation.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Yeah, but that's imp... Yes, sir.
- Wesley Crusher: He wants the impossible!
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: That's the short definition of 'captain'.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Among humans, a kiss usually serves to seal a friendship, or indicate support. Attraction. Affection. In this context, I must assume that your intention was to express... support.
- Ard'rian McKenzie: You really don't understand human behavior, do you?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: That is something of an understatement.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Get word to Gosheven. Tell him I am coming to the pumping station. Tell him I am going to destroy the aqueduct.
- Ard'rian McKenzie: He'll try to stop you.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I sincerely hope so.
- [last lines]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [about Data's recent violin concert] Your playing is quite beautiful.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Strictly speaking, sir, it is not my playing. It is a precise imitation of the techniques of Jascha Heifetz and Trenka Bron-Ken.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Is there nothing of Data in what I'm hearing? You see, you chose the violinist. Heifetz and Bron-Ken have radically different styles, different techniques, and yet... you combined them, successfully.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I suppose I have learned to be... creative, sir - when necessary.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Data, I look forward to your next concert.
- [Data has disabled the aqueduct with his phaser]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: I can reduce this pumping station to a pile of debris, but I trust my point is clear. I am but one android, with a single weapon. There are hundreds of Sheliak on the way, and their weapons are far more powerful. They may not offer you a target. They can obliterate you from orbit. You will die - never having seen the faces of your killers. The choice is yours.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: We are stranded on a planet. We have no language in common, but I want to teach you mine.
- [she holds up her tea glass]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: S'smarith. What did I just say?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Cup... Glass.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Are you sure? I may have meant liquid. Clear. Brown. Hot. We conceptualize the universe in relatively the same way.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Point taken.
- [Data has been assigned to organize the evacuation of a Human colony on Tau Cygna V, a Sheliak planet]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Sir, if I do not succeed, how violent is the Sheliak reaction likely to be?
- Commander William T. Riker: The treaty is the only thing that prevented them from eradicating the colony the moment they discovered it.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Ah.
- Commander William T. Riker: "Ah" is right, Data.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Captain - we can do it. We can modify the transporters.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Excellent.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: It'll take fifteen years and a research team of a hundred...
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. La Forge... I believe we will postpone.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Captain, when the treaty was first negotiated, the Federation sent 372 legal experts. What do we have?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Thee and me.
- [Data has told the colonists of the threat of the Sheliak and urged them to evacuate the planet, which Gosheven refuses]
- Gosheven: This colony exists because generations gave their lives for it. Many died, before we found a way to adapt to the radiation, and many more died bringing water to this desert. My grandfather...
- Ard'rian McKenzie: ...is buried on that mountain. Well, who'll be left to bury you?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: [Data enters Ten Forward carrying a violin and notices Captain Picard and Doctor Crusher sitting at a table facing the stage] Captain. Doctor. I am honored by your presence but... may I suggest you attend the second concert.
- Dr. Beverly Crusher: Why Data?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Ensign Ortiz will perform the violin part. My rendition will be less enjoyable.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh?
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Although I am technically proficient, according to my fellow performers I lack
- [gestures by shaking his fist near his chest]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: soul.
- Dr. Beverly Crusher: Data, telling us why you're going to fail before you make the attempt is never wise.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: But, is not honesty always the preferred choice?
- [Beverly looks amusingly at Captain Picard]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Excessive honesty can be disastrous - particularly in a commander.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: [looking somewhat intrigued] Indeed.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Knowing your own limitations is one thing. Advertising them to a crew can damage your credibility as a leader.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Because you will lose their confidence.
- Dr. Beverly Crusher: And, you may begin to believe in those limitations yourself.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Do you believe my suggested course of action should be followed?
- Ard'rian McKenzie: Of course.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: In spite of the fact that I am an android?
- Ard'rian McKenzie: Because of that fact. I don't have any silly prejudice against computers; I like them. Not that any computer we have is half as sophisticated as you are.
- [Data looks at a primitive dummy made up of metal parts]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: No. I would say not.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data, Ard'rian McKenzie: [respectively, after having kissed the other] You appeared to need it.
- Ard'rian McKenzie: [first meeting Data; throwing a tool at Data, who catches it] Nice catch! Wonderful reflexes! Sorry that I had to test you like that, but I was curious.
- Lt. Worf: [while Picard is scrolling through the Sheliak's treaty log to find a loophole; annoyed] This is hopeless! Fighting would have been preferable!
- Counselor Deanna Troi: In our dealings with other non-humanoid races, there's always been some point of reference. Not so with the Shelliac.
- Capt. Picard: But, we must have something in common. We communicate.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Barely. They have learned several Federation languages, but theirs continues to elude us.
- Capt. Picard: Telepaths?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Attempted and failed. Actually, the fact that any alien race communicates with another is quite remarkable.
- [Troi picks up Picard's cup of tea]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: We are stranded on a planet. We have no language in common, but I want to teach you mine.
- [She holds out the cup]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Zasmareth. What did I just say?
- Capt. Picard: Cup.
- [pause]
- Capt. Picard: Glass?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Are you sure? I may have meant liquid, clear, brown, hot.
- [sets tea down]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: We conceptualize a universe in relatively the same way.
- Capt. Picard: Point taken.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: In your talks, you must be extremely accurate.
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: Perhaps that is a part of our difficulty. Words are all we have been using. Humans seem to take much stronger notice of actions.