- Kes: To be honest, I never want to see that part of myself again.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: To which part are you referring?
- Kes: To the part of me that got pleasure from destroying those plants in the airponics bay, to the part of me that was tempted to go with Tanis. I never realized I had such dark impulses.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Without the darkness, how would we recognize the light? Do not fear your negative thoughts. They are part of you. They are a part of every living being - even Vulcans.
- Kes: You?
- Lieutenant Tuvok: The Vulcan heart was forged out of barbarism and violence. We learned to control it, but it is still part of us. To pretend it does not exist is to create an opportunity for it to escape.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: If you are to succeed in honing your telepathic abilities, you must learn to control these emotional outbursts.
- Kes: Outburst? It was a giggle!
- Tanis: The people on this ship, they live their lives trapped inside their primitive skulls, depending on flesh and bone to tell them what the universe is like. They don't know what it is to see beyond the physical.
- [he points at a flower]
- Tanis: Touch it. This is how they know the universe. They touch the flower, their nerve impulses travel up their arm to the brain, and in their mind they sense the moisture of the petals, the texture of the leaves, the sharpness of the thorns, and they think they know what it feels like, but they don't.
- [he gently moves Kes's hand away from the flower]
- Tanis: Now touch it. Reach out with your thoughts. Feel it for the very first time. Think of nothing but the flower. It's the only object in the universe. Know it. Know it in a way only an Ocampa can.
- Kes: [after burning all the plants to the ground] I killed those plants - just like I almost killed Tuvok - but I don't want to hurt anybody.
- Tanis: Of course you don't. That's not the point. Hurt people, help them, give life, kill - it's all the same. Once you see beyond the physical, you see the universe as it truly is.
- Tanis: Captain, are you aware of how your ship is regarded, that when Voyager appears, people fear destruction?
- Ocampa Man: Your ship is known as a ship of death.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Captain, the Caretaker was a being of considerable power, and although his intent was not hostile, we were essentially at his mercy. I do not care to repeat that experience.