James T. Kirk quotes from Star Trek: The Original Series

Scotty

Mira has tried to tell me all along that she was seeing things in advance.

Kirk

Why didn't you report it?

Scotty

You don't report space sickness. That's all I thought it was.

Kirk

You said something about savagery, Mr. Flint. When was the last time you visited Earth?

Flint

You would tell me that it is no longer cruel. But it is, Captain. Look at your starship. Bristling with weapons. Its mission to colonize, exploit, destroy if necessary to advance Federation causes.

Kirk

Our missions are peaceful, our weapons defensive. If we were barbarians, we would not have asked for rytalin. Indeed, your greeting, not ours, lacked a certain benevolence.

Flint

The result of pressures which are... not... your concern

Kirk

Yes, well, those pressures are everywhere, in everyone, urging him to what you call savagery. The private hells, the inner needs and mysteries, the beast of instinct. As human beings, that is the way it is. To be human is to be complex. You can't avoid a little ugliness from within... and from without.

Chekov

I believe I know one of them. At least, I think I recognize her voice. Her name is... Irina Galliulin. We were in Starfleet Academy together.

Kirk

One of those... was in the Academy?!

Kirk

They really believe that (the planet) Eden exists?

Spock

Many myths are based on truth, Captain. And they are not unintelligent. Their leader, Dr. Sevrin, is a man --

Kirk

[surprised] Dr. Sevrin is their leader?

Spock

Yes. A brilliant research engineer in the fields of acoustics, communications and electronics on Tiberon. He was dismissed from his post when he started this movement. Tong Rad inherits his father's extraordinary abilities in the field of space studies.

Kirk

But... they've rejected all that, and all that this technology provides. And they seek the primitive.

Spock

There are many who are... uncomfortable with what we have created. It is almost a biological rebellion. A profound revulsion against the planned communities. The programming. The sterilized, artfully balanced atmospheres. They hunger for an Eden... where spring comes.

Kirk

We all do. The cave is deep in our memory.

Spock

Yes, that is true, Captain.

Kirk

But we don't steal space cruisers and act like irresponsible children. What makes you so sympathetic toward them?

Spock

It is not "sympathy" so much as curiosity, Captain. A wish to understand. They regard themselves as aliens in their own worlds. A condition with which I am somewhat familiar.

Kirk

Spock.... What does "Herbert" mean?

Spock

[uncomfortable] It is, uh... somewhat, uh... uncomplimentary, Captain. Herbert was a minor official... notorious for his rigid and limited patterns of thought.

Kirk

[taking that in] Well, I shall try to be less rigid in my thinking.

Scotty

I don't know why a young mind has to be an undisciplined one. They're troublemakers.

Kirk

I used to get into a little trouble when I was that age, Scotty. Didn't you?

Spock

Miss Galliulin. It is my sincere wish that you do not give up your search for Eden. I have no doubt but that you will find it. Or make it, yourselves.

Thank you. [leaves the bridge. Chekov and Spock go back to their stations.]

Kirk

We... reach, Mr. Spock.

It's hard to believe that something which is neither seen nor felt can do so much harm.

Kirk

That's true. But an idea can't be seen or felt. And that's what's kept the Troglytes in the mines all these centuries-- a mistaken idea.

Dr. Janice Lester

I've lost..To the Captain...Kill Him....Now I'll never Command a starship

Kirk

Her life could've been as rich as any woman's... if only... if only..."

Destruct sequence engaged. Awaiting final code for thirty second countdown.

James T. Kirk

Computer, this is Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Begin thirty second countdown. Code zero zero zero. Destruct. Zero.

James T. Kirk

Computer. This is Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Code one, two, three continuity. Abort destruct order. Repeat code one, two, three continuity. Abort destruct order.

Destruct order aborted. Destruct order aborted.