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

Kirk

[to Spock] Your logic can be most... annoying.

Kirk

Without freedom of choice there is no creativity.

Kirk

It's time you learned that freedom is never a gift. It has to be earned.

Kirk

Death. Destruction. Disease. Horror. That's what war is all about. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided.

Kirk

[War] is instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands! But we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers... but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill - today!

Kirk

[narrating] Captain's log, Stardate 3417.7. Except for myself, all crew personnel have transported to the surface of the planet. Mutinied. Lieutenant Uhura has effectively sabotaged the communications station. I can only contact the surface of the planet. The ship can be maintained in orbit for several months, but even with automatic controls, I cannot pilot her alone. In effect, I am marooned here. I'm beginning to realize... just how big this ship really is. How quiet. I don't know how to get my crew back, how to counteract the effect of the spores. I don't know what I can offer against... paradise.

Kirk

Gentlemen, I have no great love for you, your planet, your culture. Despite that, Mr. Spock and I are gonna go out there, and quite probably die - in an attempt to show you that there are some things worth dying for.

Kirk

[narrating] Captain's log, stardate 3289.8. I am faced with the most difficult decision of my life. Unless we find a way to destroy the creatures without killing their human hosts, my command responsibilities will force me to kill over a million people.

Kirk

Mankind has no need of gods...we find the one quite adequate.

Kirk

Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?

Kirk

Conquest is easy. Control is not.

Kirk

And you'll learn something about men and women-- the way they're supposed to be. Caring for each other, being happy with each other, being good to each other. That's what we call... love. You'll like that, too, a lot.

Kirk

[Upon hearing he has phasers available] Scotty! You've just earned your pay for the week!

Kirk

You can't think a man to death.

Kirk

[about rigging the universal translator to communicate with the Companion] Not 100 percent efficient, of course, but nothing ever is.