"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."

"Or the promise of legacy revealed the rot that is hidden underneath it."

"Guinan! Don't leave the Earth just yet. I know you're done with listening, but you're not done with humanity. Change always comes later than we think it should."

"History’s darkest moments can be a tipping point for change."

"Distance offers no protection from time."

"We cannot live in this reality. If we want to save the future, then we have to repair the past."

"We often refer to space as the final frontier. But the older I get, the more I come to believe that the true final frontier is time. In command, as in life, what we do in crisis often weighs upon us less heavily than what we wish we had done, what could have been. Time offers many opportunities, but it rarely offers second chances. And as steps forward go I would like to acknowledge your classmate the first fully Romulan cadet at Starfleet Academy: Elnor. May you all go boldly into a future freed from the shackles of the past. I stand before you the last Picard. My ancestor captained the second ship, behind Jacques Cartier. A great-great cousin Renee Picard was instrumental in early exploration of this solar system. Yet I choose to leave you with the words of my mother, who was no explorer at all. When I was a boy she would point to the night sky and say, "Look up, Jean-Luc, and let's see what's out there"."

"Seize today for we know nothing of tomorrow."

"It says a great deal about the mind of Commander Data that, looking at the human race with all its violence and corruption, willful ignorance, he could still see kindness, the immense curiosity, and greatness of spirit. And he wanted, more than anything else, to be part of that, to be part of the human family. We are such stuff as dreams are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

"If we wanted to destroy you, Soji, we would've joined forces with the Romulans. We would be training our phasers on you right now. We aren't. We won't! You know why? Because we trust you to make the right choice. I trust you, Soji. I know you. I believe in you. That's why I saved your lives. So that you could save ours in return. That's the whole point. That's why we're here. To save each other."

"To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination."

"Well, hope and the odds make poor bedfellows."

"One more thing. Uh, I have a brain abnormality. I've known for years. Uh, I never had any symptoms, so I never thought much about it. However, just before we left the Earth, I learned that my condition was more acute. The prognosis was terminal, and there is no effective treatment. There will be no further discussion. Anyone who treats me like a dying man will run the risk of pissing me off."

"There's a difference between killing an attacking enemy and watching a wounded one die."

"Data's capacity for expressing and processing emotion was limited. I suppose we had that in common."

"The past is written, but the future is left for us to write, and we have powerful tools, Rios: openness, optimism, and the spirit of curiosity. All they have is secrecy, and fear, and fear is the great destroyer, Rios."

"You have a past. You have a story, just waiting to be claimed."

"Changed? The Borg? They coolly assimilate entire civilizations, entire systems, in a matter of hours. They don't change! They metastasize."

"But murder is not justice. There is no solace in revenge. You have had your humanity restored to you. Don't squander it now."

"I'm not in the habit of consulting lawyers before I do what needs to be done."

"Sitting here, all these years, nursing my offended dignity, writing books of history people prefer to forget. I never asked anything of myself at all. [...] I haven’t been living. I’ve been waiting to die."

"So, five-card stud, nothing wild. And the sky's the limit."

"Now, this will put the ship at risk. Quite frankly, we may not survive. But I want you to believe that I am doing this for a greater purpose, and that what is at stake here is more than any of you can possibly imagine. I know you have your doubts about me, about each other, about this ship. All I can say is that although we have only been together for a short time, I know that you are the finest crew in the fleet. And I would trust each of you with my life. So, I am asking you for a leap of faith — and to trust me."

"We are what we are, and we're doing the best we can. It is not for you to set the standards by which we should be judged!"

"I prefer to look on the future as something which is not written in stone. A lot of things can happen in 25 years."

"There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle; it's just a matter of finding it. See also: The middle of Youtube Video "Captain Picard: The Role Model We Need" (16.06.2021) by user "Ryan's Edits"."

"There was no opportunity. There was no pause. (mock Teutonic) He just kept talking in one long, incredibly unbroken sentence, moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance to interrupt. It was really quite hypnotic."

"There are many parts of my youth that I'm not proud of. There were loose threads, untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads it unraveled the tapestry of my life."

"I would rather die as the man I was than live the life I just saw."

"No, I am not dead. Because I refuse to believe the afterlife is run by you. The universe is not so badly designed!"

"There are four lights!"

"You cannot explain away a wantonly immoral act because you think it is connected to some higher purpose."

"Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again."

"The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based! If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!"

"You told the truth up to a point. But a lie of omission is still a lie."

"And that's human. We make mistakes. Genetic manipulation or not, nobody's perfect."

"They've given away their humanity with this genetic manipulation. Many of the qualities that they breed out, the uncertainty, the self-discovery, the unknown, those are many of the qualities that make life worth living. Well, at least to me. I wouldn't want to live knowing that my future was written, that my boundaries had been already set, would you?"

"Every choice we make allows us to manipulate the future. Do I ask Adrienne or Suzanne to the spring dance? Do I take my holiday on Corsica or on Risa? A person's life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices. Living is making choices. Now you ask me to believe that if I make a choice other than the one found in your history books, then your past will be irrevocably altered. Well, you know, Professor, perhaps I don't give a damn about your past, because your past is my future and as far as I'm concerned, it hasn't been written yet."

"We know from our own experience that our shields will protect us. So long as we're in no danger, I will make every effort to communicate."

":Jean-Luc Picard: More familiarity with our own mythology might help us to relate to theirs. The Tamarian was willing to risk all of us just for the hope of communication, connection. Now the door is open between our peoples. That commitment meant more to him than his own life."

":William Riker: For the next time we encounter the Tamarians?"

":Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, the Homeric Hymns. One of the root metaphors of our own culture."

"You hoped this would happen, didn't you? You knew there was a dangerous creature on this planet and you knew from the tale of Darmok that a danger shared might sometimes bring two people together. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. You and me, here, at El-Adrel."

"In my experience, communication is a matter of patience, imagination. I would like to believe these are qualities we have in sufficient measure."

"I'd be delighted to offer any advice I have on understanding women. When I have some, I'll let you know."

"Jean-Luc Picard: We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, is all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly, it threatens to start all over again."

"The road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think."