[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.
Well 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 or too hazardous. And an army of Datas, all disposable... "Here's their leader, you don't have to think about their welfare, you don't think about how they feel." Whole generations of disposable people.
I don't think that's a little harsh, I think that's the truth. But that's a truth that we have obscured behind comfortable, easy euphemism. 'Property.' But that's not the issue at all, is it?
[regarding Data] The Commander is a physical representation of a dream. An idea conceived of by the mind of a man, its purpose to serve human needs and interests. It's a collection of neural nets and heuristic algorithms, its responses dictated by an elaborate software written by a man, its hardware built by a man, and now... and now a man will shut it off. [Riker deactivates Data in front of Picard and Louvois.] Pinocchio is broken; its strings have been cut.
Your Honor, a 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. Now, 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.
[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.
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?
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."]
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.]
