- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It's ironic, isn't it? All this magnificent technology, and we still find ourselves susceptible to the ravages of old age... loss of dignity... the slow betrayal of our bodies by forces we cannot master. Do you still want to be one of us, Data?
- [Picard is overcome with Sarek's intense emotions]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: NOOO! It is... It is... wrong! IT IS WRONG! A lifetime of discipline washed away, and in its place...
- [laughs awkwardly, then grunts]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Bedlam. BEDLAM! I'm so old. There is nothing left but dry bones, and dead friends. Oh... tired. Oh, so tired.
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: It will pass, all of it. Just another hour or so, you're doing fine, just hold on.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: NO! This weakness disgusts me! I HATE IT! Where is my logic? I'm betrayed by... desires. Oh, I want to feel, I want to feel... everything. But I am... a Vulcan. I must feel nothing! Give me back my control!
- [he sobs uncontrollably]
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: Jean-Luc!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Pe- Perrin... Amanda... I - wanted - to give you - so much more. I wanted to show you such... t- t- tenderness. But that is not our way. Spock... Amanda... Did you know? P-Perrin, can you - know... how - much I - love - you? I - do - LOVE YOU!
- [Picard weeps heavily, then manages to compose himself]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Beverly...
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: I'm here, Jean-Luc. I'm not going anywhere.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It's... quite difficult. The anguish of the man. The despair... pouring out of him, all those feelings. The regrets.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [sobs] I c- I can't... stop them! I can't stop them, I can't. I can't...!
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: [comforting him] Don't even try.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I saw you crying.
- Ambassador Sarek: I do not cry.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I was there, I saw the tears.
- Ambassador Sarek: You exaggerate, Captain, I recall only one tear.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: So you *were* emotionally affected by the music.
- Ambassador Sarek: That is not possible!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: You still haven't answered my question, Sarek. Is it logical for a Vulcan to cry?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [on Sarek] I met him once. Many years ago, very briefly at his son's wedding. I can tell you, that was quite a moment for a young lieutenant, standing in the presence of such history. I remember he spoke to me, and I just stood there grinning like an idiot.
- Commander William T. Riker: You, tongue-tied?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Indeed. How do you make small talk with someone who shaped the Federation?
- Perrin: [to Picard] My husband has taken an interest in your career. He finds it to be... satisfactory.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: My word! High praise from a Vulcan.
- [Sarek and his party have arrived on the Enterprise]
- Commander William T. Riker: The way Mendrossen described him, I expected to see a frail old man.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I hope *I'm* that frail when I'm 202 years old.
- Lt. Commander Data: You must decide which is your greater obligation - your loyalty to Sarek, or your duty to the Federation. Can you accept the logic of continuing this mission?
- Sakkath: Tell your Captain... the mission is in jeopardy.
- Perrin: Mendrossen and I never wanted to deceive you. My husband's condition came on him so gradually, it was easy for us to delude ourselves and pretend that nothing was wrong. We convinced ourselves that he could complete this one last task, and end his career with dignity. Help him, Captain. Help him... regain his pride, his honor.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Believe me, it would give me great pleasure, but there is nothing I can do.
- Perrin: The mission can be saved. But he needs your help to do it.
- [Picard has suggested a Vulcan mind meld with Sarek to save the diplomatic mission]
- Ambassador Sarek: A mind meld can be a terrible intimacy. I cannot allow it.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I'm aware of the risks. But it is the only... logical solution.
- Ambassador Sarek: Your courage honors me, Captain.
- Commander William T. Riker: Is Captain Picard all right?
- Ambassador Sarek: Don't worry, Number One.
- Commander William T. Riker: And... the Ambassador?
- Ambassador Sarek: I am myself again. It has been a long time.
- [last lines]
- Ambassador Sarek: I will take my leave of you now, Captain. I do not think we shall meet again.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I hope you're wrong, Ambassador.
- Ambassador Sarek: We shall always retain the best part of the other - inside us.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I believe I have the better part of that bargain, Ambassador.
- [they exchange the Vulcan salute]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Peace and long life.
- Ambassador Sarek: Live long and prosper.
- Lt. Commander Data: Sarek is a logical, intelligent being. The effects of Bendii Syndrome are apparent. Why would such a man choose to ignore them?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Logic fails us sometimes, Data. I think this is one of those times. I can only guess that he does not see - or he does not wish to see - the truth. And he is being insulated against that truth by those who love him most.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Sarek of Vulcan would never be afraid of looking straight at something he did not want to see.
- Ambassador Sarek: I warn you! Your efforts to discredit me will not succeed!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Sarek of Vulcan never confused what he wanted with the truth.
- Ambassador Sarek: [indignantly] I will not be spoken to in this manner!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Do I hear anger in your voice?
- Ambassador Sarek: [enraged] It would be illogical for a Vulcan to show anger! It'd be illogical! illogical! illogical! illogic...!
- Commander William T. Riker: Is it my imagination, or have tempers become a little frayed on this ship lately?
- Lieutenant Worf: I hadn't noticed.
- [they enter Ten Forward, where a mass brawl is in full swing]
- Lieutenant Worf: I see what you mean.
- [Wesley is looking into a huge tank filled with a slimy liquid]
- Wesley Crusher: Are the Legarans really gonna sit in this stuff?
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Well, I'm sure not.
- Wesley Crusher: Can you believe this smell?
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: What smell? What can I say, to us, it's a slime pit, but to them, it's home.
- Sakkath: I have been using my limited abilities to strengthen your mental discipline.
- Ambassador Sarek: [agitated] Your efforts will no longer be required!
- Sakkath: That would not be wise.
- Ambassador Sarek: [calmly] It may not be wise; but it is necessary.
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: [Dr. Crusher, in unexplained bout of irrational anger has slapped her son, Wesley. She is deeply shocked and hurt by what she had just done] ... And then I just slapped him. Really hard. *I* slapped Wesley.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Do you know why you did it?
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: [heartbroken] I've NEVER hit my son in his life.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: [serious] Beverly, This is important. What were you thinking when you hit Wesley.
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: I wasn't thinking anything. I was... just angry.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: And Weseley didn't provoke you in any way? It wasn't anything he said, or anything he did?
- Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher: [at a loss] No, that was just it. It was a sudden burst of anger. I still can't believe I did it.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: I don't know why you did it either. But I can tell you that I've heard the same kind of story from ten different people in the last two days.
- [first lines]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [voiceover] Captain's log, Stardate 43917.4. The Enterprise has been given the singular honour of hosting the first meeting between the Federation and a mysterious race known as the Legarans. We are in orbit around Vulcan, preparing to welcome aboard Federation Ambassador Sarek and his wife Perrin, who, like his first wife, is from Earth.