Jean-Luc Picard quotes from Star Trek: 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.

Jean-Luc Picard

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.

Tallinn

Love can be a source of great grief and immense pain. Of tremendous guilt. A reason to run from ourselves or away from each other. Love can be a curse. But always and completely it's a gift.

Q

Bravo. Destiny left for the little boy you will be in the future to find.

Q

You considered destroying it, didn't you? Well, let me ask: if that key is not there for the boy to find, does he grow up with his mother? Does the shame instantly lift? But you accepted your fate. You accepted you. You chose the Jean-Luc you are. You absolved yourself. And because you choose him, perhaps now he will be worthy enough for someone else to choose. And maybe this time, he will even give him the chance to be loved. I told you this was about forgiveness, Jean-Luc. Yours.

Jean-Luc Picard

Why?

Q

Well, isn't that the eternal question? Know thyself.

Jean-Luc Picard

There's been so much loss. So much death.

Q

But you fixed all that.

Jean-Luc Picard

Elnor! Tallinn!

Q

Well, maybe not all of it. But Tallinn always dies in every timeline. This is the only one in which she meets Renée.

Jean-Luc Picard

I ask you once again: why?

Q

Finish the sentence.

Jean-Luc Picard

...me? From the very beginning, for over thirty years, why me?

Q

I am moving on. In your parlance, I am dying.

Jean-Luc Picard

Yes, I know.

Q

Alone. I am dying alone. I do not want that for you. Humans, your griefs, your pains fix you to moments in the past long gone. You're like butterflies with your wings pinned. My old friend, forever the boy who, with an errant turn of a skeleton key, broke the universe and his own heart. No more. You are now unshackled from the past. As I leave, I leave you free.

Jean-Luc Picard

But... why does all this matter? Is something going to happen, for which I will be required?

Q

Must it always have galactic import? Universal stakes? Celestial upheaval? Isn't one life enough? You ask me why it matters. It matters to me. [Q gets out of his chair and approaches Jean-Luc] You matter to me. Even Gods have favorites, Jean-Luc, and you've always been one of mine.

Q

Most unexpected. Perhaps now, there will be some... surplus energy? Call it a surprise. A gift. Farewell, Mon Capitaine. It's time for me to go.

Jean-Luc Picard

But not alone. Isn't that the point of all this? [Jean-Luc hugs Q]

Q

See you out there. [Jean-Luc lets Q go, Q snaps his fingers to send them back]

Beverly Crusher

Admiral Picard, I'm encoding this transmission with coordinates.

Jean-Luc Picard

Beverly...

Beverly Crusher

Listen to me very carefully. Hellbird. Repeat: Hellbird.

Jean-Luc Picard

"Hellbird"?

Beverly Crusher

And Jean-Luc, no Starfleet. Trust no one.

Vadic

Good afternoon! I believe it is afternoon in the Sol System. [chuckles] I am Captain Vadic, and you are... Captain Liam Shaw.

Liam Shaw

That's me. Is it important for you to know that I was having a nice morning before all of this?

Vadic

[joyfully] Ooh, that's lovely to hear! Given your official psychological profile with Starfleet, I'm so glad that you remained... er... functional?

Jean-Luc Picard

You have been causing us some concern, Captain. State your business!

Vadic

[gleeful] Oh, my. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, in the synthetic flesh. You're harboring one Jack Crusher. He's broken a number of laws, both inside and outside Federation space. There is a sizeable bounty on his head. And we are taking him.

Liam Shaw

[looks at Jack, and then back to Vadic] I hate to inform you, but Starfleet does not negotiate with bounty hunters.

Vadic

[laugh] I see you're having difficulty understanding the situation! May I remind you that you are outside your jurisdiction? But, so you may have clarification, I'll lower my shields so that you can scan my ship.

Their shields are lowering.

William Riker

Weapons?

Forty isolytic burst warheads. Eighty-eight plasma torpedoes. Two hundred and thirty-six photon torpedoes. Eighteen antimatter missiles. Twenty pulse wave. Thirty series five-

Liam Shaw

I get it.

And something... loaded in primary position in the bay, sir. Technology unknown.

Vadic

You have one hour to hand over Jack Crusher. Turn your back to run, and the only way you'll see the shot that kills you will be through the hole in your proverbial chest. Until then: enjoy this parting demonstration of my intentions. [Vadic cuts the transmission]

Jean-Luc Picard

What did she just do?

She threw a ship at us. Sir.

Seven of Nine

It broke through our shields, Captain, hit with enough force that shrapnel tore the hull on Deck 11.

Liam Shaw

How is that even possible?

Reverse tractor beam with anti-gravitational polarity phasing. Basically, blunt force trauma. If my father taught me anything, there's no law of physics that can't be either weaponized or broken by another law of physics.

Liam Shaw

Thank you, Ensign.

William Riker

Thank you, Jean-Luc.

Jean-Luc Picard

Will, I think it might be time you called me Number One.

Jean-Luc Picard

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. Well, thank you. And now, if you don't mind, I think my haddock's getting cold.

Jack Crusher

Excuse me, Admiral. You went on and on about your crew. Your life in Starfleet. Did you have a life outside of that? What about a real family?

Jean-Luc Picard

Young man, Starfleet has been the only family I have ever needed.

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.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

[turns to Geordi] Geordi? [to Jean-Luc Picard] Captain?

Jean-Luc Picard

Yes. Data, is that you?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Yes, sir! No, sir! I... I am not certain.

Beverly Crusher

He's like you, Jean-Luc.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

I am Data.

Geordi La Forge

Synthetic, but...

Daystrom Android M-5-10

No, I was Data.

Geordi La Forge

Human.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

There are many of myself inside Daystrom Android M-5-10, but... currently, one voice speaks to you more... more fondly.

Jean-Luc Picard

The evening of the robbery, something was taken. Something more... deadly than a portal weapon. We believe that you witnessed that event. Can you confirm?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Can I confirm? [malfunctioning] Can I?

Worf

Is he malfunctioning?

Geordi La Forge

I don't know!

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Memory records indicate what appears to be the Changelings' main objective.

Geordi La Forge

Go on.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

The project manifest lists the missing item.

Jean-Luc Picard

Data, can you tell us what was stolen?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Jean-Luc Picard.

Jean-Luc Picard

Yes, Data, I'm here. I repeat: can you tell us what was stolen?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Jean-Luc Picard. Jean-Luc Picard... Manifest inquiry: Jean-Luc Picard.

Worf

Is there a reset switch?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

[Lore personality manifests, chuckling] I'm Lore. [personality changes] I am B-4... [personality changes] I am Soong. No... I am more.

Jean-Luc Picard

Data, it is vital that you tell us what was taken from the lab.

Geordi La Forge

What is this?

Worf

It is what the Changelings stole from Daystrom.

Beverly Crusher

Human remains...

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Jean-Luc Picard.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

[as Data]: Captain. Geordi. I am no longer on the Enterprise. The Scimitar...

Jean-Luc Picard

That was many, many years ago.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Hmm. That would explain why... [switches to Lore] you're so old! Time has been very cruel to you.

Geordi La Forge

And here's the problem, Admiral. You remember Lore?

Jean-Luc Picard

Data's brother. But, surely, he was deactivated.

Geordi La Forge

Archived, is more like it. Simply put, this unit is currently home to both Data and Lore simultaneously.

Daystrom Android M-5-10

[switches to Data] I apologize for the outburst, Captain. I am not in complete control of this body, [switches to Lore] nor I am in complete control of my utter revulsion at your ancient face.

So, has Lore always been this arch?

Daystrom Android M-5-10

Did the tree move? Or did the apple just fall far from it? When you're constantly subjected to these... self-righteous, self-proclaimed heroes, spewing their morality as if vomit were somehow virtuous then sometimes, dear, a little bend, a little arch, a little antagonizing flair is required.

Geordi La Forge

Lore has a perverted sense of what it means to be human.

Jean-Luc Picard

Bridge, open the evacuation hatch now!

Seven of Nine

Get off my bridge!

Vadic

Oh, fucking solids.

Geordi La Forge

Admiral. Ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to introduce you to the newest version of a very old friend.

William Riker

With an upgrade, I'm told.

Data

Oh, I am mostly myself, I assure you, albeit with a dash of computational joie de vivre.

Jean-Luc Picard

The last time we spoke, you wished to experience death. As happy as I am that you're here, I hope that we haven't betrayed that wish.

Data

No, sir. I know that me is resting peacefully. But this me... this me would rather be no place else in the universe.

Jean-Luc Picard

The Enterprise-D... but... how?

Geordi La Forge

Thank the good old Prime Directive. The saucer was retrieved from Veridian III, so as not to influence the system. I've been restoring it bit by bit over the past twenty years. Engines and nacelles come from the USS Syracuse.

Data

Strange... Seeing it makes me feel...

You're not the only one, Data.

Geordi La Forge

And, obviously, we can't use the Enterprise-E.

Worf

That was not my fault.