“
Yeah, the whole family knows. It's no big deal. One night at dinner I said, 'Mom, you know the forbidden love that Spock has for Kirk? Well, me too.' It was easier for her to understand that way.
”
”
Holly Black (Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1))
“
There are always possibilities.
”
”
Jack B. Sowards (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan: Photostory)
“
Live long and prosper
”
”
Theodore Sturgeon (Amok Time (Star Trek Fotonovel #12))
“
You have been, and always shall be, my friend
”
”
Mr. Spock to Captain Kirk
“
The word impossible contains the word possible'
What's that-- some Zen thing?'
I think Star Trek. Mr. Spock.
”
”
Dean Koontz
“
There was much to put out of his mind. Why was it difficult to forget Chekov's astonished delight which greeted him at the command airlock when he boarded. And on the bridge - Kirk! The mere name made Spock groan inwardly as he remembered what it had cost him to turn away from that welcome. T'hy'la!
”
”
Gene Roddenberry
“
The spear in the Other's heart
is the spear in your own:
you are he.
There is no other wisdom,
and no other hope for us
but that we grow wise.
-attributed to Surak
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few
”
”
Spock played by Leonard Nimoy
“
James T Kirk: Mr.Scott. Have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?
Montgomery Scott: Certainly, Sir. How else can I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?
”
”
Harve Bennett (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
“
BILLY: Did you ever watch Star Trek?
MACHIAVELLI: Do I look like I watch Star Trek?
BILLY: It's hard to tell who's a Trekkie.
MACHIAVELLI: Billy, I ran one of the most sophisticated secret service organizations in the world. I did not have time for Star Trek. (pause) I was more of a Star Wars fan. Why do you ask?
BILLY: Well, when Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock beamed down to a planet, usually with Dr. McCoy and sometimes with Scotty from engineering...
MACHIAVELLI: Wait a minute--what's Mr. Spock again?
BILLY: A Vulcan.
MACHIAVELLI: His rank.
BILLY: The first officer.
MACHIAVELLI: So the captain, the first officer, the ship's doctor, and sometimes the engineer all beam down to a planet. Together. The entire complement of the senior officers?
BILLY: (nods)
MACHIAVELLI: And who has command of the ship?
BILLY: (shrug) I don't know. Junior officers, I guess.
MACHIAVELLI: If they worked for me I'd have them court-martialed. That sounds like a gross dereliction of duty.
BILLY: I know. I always thought it was a little odd myself.
”
”
Michael Scott (The Enchantress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #6))
“
Vejur was everything that Spock had ever dreamed of becoming. And yet Vejur was barren! It would never feel pain. Or joy. Or challenge. It was so completely and magnificently logical that its accumulation of knowledge was totally useless.
”
”
Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Star Trek TOS: Movie Novelizations #1))
“
I have been and always shall be your friend.
”
”
The Intrepid Mr. Spock
“
If death is truly a curse,' Spock said, as soberly as some power pronouncing a hundred years of sleep, but with a glint of private, serene humor in his eyes. 'There is little logic in condemning something one has not experienced...or does not remember experiencing.
”
”
Diane Duane (The Wounded Sky (Star Trek: The Original Series, #13))
“
That which is beautiful is magnified by being shared with others.That which is painful is often moderated by being shared. Both are logical. -Spock
”
”
Alan Dean Foster (Star Trek (Star Trek: Kelvin Movie Novelization #1)
“
When supporting others, we need to offer the comfort of Kirk and the intellect of Spock.
”
”
Ethan Kross (Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It)
“
I for one refuse to believe that an enterprise so well conceived, so scrupulously produced, and so widely loved can stay boneyarded for long.
And I have 1,898 letters from people who don't believe it either.
”
”
James Blish (Spock Must Die! (Star Trek Adventures, #1))
“
I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose.
”
”
SPOCK
“
Kirk: How close will we come to the nearest Klingon outpost if we continue on our present course?
Chekov: Vun parsec, sir. Close enough to smell them.
Spock: That is illogical, ensign. Odors cannot travel through the vacuum of space.
Chekov: I vas making a little joke, sir.
Spock: Extremely little, ensign.
”
”
David Gerrold (The Trouble with Tribbles)
“
Dylan's friend Linus Millberg appears out of the crowd with a cup of beer and shouts, 'Dorothy is John Lennon, the Scarecrow is Paul McCartney, the Tin Woodman is George Harrison, the Lion's Ringo.'
'Star Trek,' commands Dylan over the lousy twangy country CB's is playing between sets.
'Easy,' Linus shouts back. "Kirk's John, Spock's Paul, Bones is George, Scotty is Ringo. Or Chekov, after the first season. Doesn't matter, it's like a Scotty-Chekov-combination Ringo. Spare parts are always surplus Georges or Ringos.'
'But isn't Spock-lacks-a-heart and McCoy-lacks-a-brain like Woodman and Scarecrow? So Dorothy's Kirk?'
'You don't get it. That's just a superficial coincidence. The Beatle thing is an archetype, it's like the basic human formation. Everything naturally forms into a Beatles, people can't help it.'
'Say the types again.'
'Responsible-parent genius-parent genius-child clown-child.'
'Okay, do Star Wars.'
'Luke Paul, Han Solo John, Chewbacca George, the robots Ringo.'
'Tonight Show.'
'Uh, Johnny Carson Paul, the guest John, Ed McMahon Ringo, whatisname George.'
'Doc Severinson.'
'Yeah, right. See, everything revolves around John, even Paul. That's why John's the guest.'
'And Severinson's quiet but talented, like a Wookie.'
'You begin to understand.
”
”
Jonathan Lethem (The Fortress of Solitude)
“
With four-to-one odds against us, our ability to leave the encounter without serious damage becomes seriously impaired." "Spock," McCoy said gently, "your bedside manner is flawless. You mean, we're all going to be blown to hell." Spock hesitated, then nodded.
”
”
Diane Duane (Doctor's Orders (Star Trek: The Original Series, #50))
“
There is nothing little,” she said with great dignity, “about my husband.” Sarek did not at first understand the amused ripple that went through the crowd of reporters standing around. Certainly he was tall by Earth standards. He had to have it explained to him,
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
“
Sarek looked up with something like hope in his eyes. “I must say,” he said, “I am impressed. You are quite a detective, Doctor.” “All doctors are detectives. All the ones worth their salt, anyway. . . .” “I will get you as much salt as you want, Doctor,” Sarek said,
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
“
Mrs. Spock:
He's in his 80's now
His face is showing his age
Not quite the trim figure
That he had on the old show
But I've grown older too,
Wider, and more creaky bones
And "Bones" has travelled on
But, still, "Live long and prosper!"
Back when I was little
Was always Mrs. Spock when
Ever we played "Star Trek"
With my sisters, as a child
”
”
Debby Feo
“
When taking Spock to see the spores, Leila comments, "It's not much further." having been beaten about the head severely on the difference between "further" and "farther," I believe I can say with some trembling confidence that she should say, "it's not much farther." "Further" means "to a greater extent or degree" whereas "farther" means "to a greater distance." (I know this is really picky, but hey, that's my business.)
”
”
Phil Farrand (The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers)
“
Sarek frowned. "Insubordination?"
"Eccentricity," Spock replied. "Captain Kirk allows a great deal of leeway as long as his crewmembers do their jobs well. Mr. Chevron simply takes advantage of it."
"That good at his job, is he?" asked Sarek.
"Indeed. Extremely good.
”
”
Jean Lorrah (The IDIC Epidemic (Star Trek: The Original Series #38))
“
Friendship is a classification humans use to define emotional relationships,” Spock said. “It is not logical.
”
”
David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
“
...after time you may find that having is not so pleasing as the wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.
”
”
Spock, Star Trek, ep. 30, 15 September 1967
“
But until today, I’d thought I was Sarek’s greatest disappointment.” “Unlikely,” Spock said. “I am quite certain he has reserved that distinction for me.
”
”
David Mack (Desperate Hours (Star Trek: Discovery #1))
“
Go maire tu' I bhfad agus rath!
'Live long and prosper'.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
I have been, and always shall be, your friend.
”
”
SPOCK
“
No, Spock. He means that he feels safer about your guesses than most other people's facts. - McCoy, The Voyage Home
”
”
Star Trek
“
Spock," (Kirk) said, "you're a sight for sore eyes!"
"I fail to understand, Captain, what bearing my presence could possibly have on the condition of your vision... but I am pleased to see you.
”
”
Janet Kagan (Uhura's Song (Star Trek: The Original Series #21))
“
She asked another question: "What does it matter if the rhinos die out? Is it really important that they are saved?"
This would normally have riled me... but I had come to think of her as Dr. Spock from Star Trek - an emotionless, purely logical creature, at least with regards to her feelings for animals. Like Spock, though, I knew there were one or two things that stirred her, so I gave an honest reply.
"... to be honest, it doesn't matter. No economy will suffer, nobody will go hungry, no diseases will be spawned. Yet there will never be a way to place a value on what we have lost. Future children will see rhinos only in books and wonder how we let them go so easily. It would be like lighting a fire in the Louvre and watching the Mona Lisa burn. Most people would think 'What a pity' and leave it at that while only a few wept
”
”
Peter Allison (Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide)
“
One of the creatures in the front circle shook itself all over and, still shaking, moved very, very slowly toward Spock. He didn't move a muscle. The creature put out a long slender pseudopod, gleaming in the sunshine like suddenly blown glass, and poked Spock's boot with it. Then it made the scratchy sound again, more laughter, and said a word: "Gotcha!" It jumped back into place. All the other creatures began to echo the scratch-laughter. Spock looked around him in mild bemusement. "Captain," he said, "I suspect we have found a kindergarten...
”
”
Diane Duane (Doctor's Orders (Star Trek: The Original Series, #50))
“
A couple of minutes later, the turbolift doors hissed open. Spock was standing in the turbolift. He had the air of a man who had been in an extreme hurry, but who had been stopped in midrush and given something he didn't understand. He was holding a small flat cushion.
”
”
Diane Duane (Doctor's Orders (Star Trek: The Original Series, #50))
“
Man, do you ever feel it's just the hope of things we live for?' I asked. 'I mean, it's like the things themselves are just a big disappointment, you know? We like the searching, the dreaming. It's sort oflike the way previews for a movie are better than the film itself sometimes. What was that line I heard from Spock on Star Trek? He says 'Having is not as good as wanting' or something like that. Like, reality is the ultimate letdown.
”
”
Augustus Cileone (Feast or Famine)
“
The Spear in the Other's heart is the spear in your own: you are he.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
You set, Bones?"
"Ouch," McCoy said. "I assume that pun was meant to make me feel better, or else accidental.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
Easier by far, thought Ambassador Spock, to get forgiveness than permission. Humans might have invented that saying, but its applications were universal. The
”
”
Josepha Sherman (Exodus (Star Trek: Vulcan's Soul, #1))
“
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.
”
”
Spock played by Leonard Nimoy
“
At any rate, after five years Surak came out of the wilds, took a small apartment in the capital, near his parents’ house, and began to write for the information networks.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
“
Not even Spock had stayed aboard for that—he found breathing vacuum for any length of time to be aesthetically unpleasant.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
“
The gentleman who plays it in the new Star Trek movies is great, but he’s acting. Leonard was Spock. He was always the character.
”
”
Edward Gross (The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek-The First 25 Years)
“
Live long, and prosper.
”
”
Spock First Officer Starship Enterprise
“
McCoy: Representing the High Tier...Leonard James Akaar.
Spock: The child was named Leonard James Akaar? Kirk nods.
McCoy: Has a kind of a ring to it don't you think, James?
Kirk: Yes, I think it is a name that will go down in galactic history, Leonard. What do you think, Spock?
Spock: I think you both will be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month...sir.
”
”
D.C. Fontana (Star Trek Omnibus - The Original Series)
“
He came back the next day, and the next, and the day after that, and they argued. The arguments always started about the binding itself, but then they began to stray out into more interesting topics--the relationships and interrelationships in their families, the politics that went on, and the doings of the kingdoms and lordships of the world; and finally, about themselves, or rather, each other. The arguments started early and ended late: it was almost improper.
After about three days of this, T'Thelaih realized that she was going to have to be bound to this man, just to have the leisure to argue properly with him.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
Do no harm to those that harm you. Offer them peace, and offer them peace again, and do it until you die. In this manner you will have peace, one way or the other, even if they kill you. And you cannot give others what you have not experienced.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
He raised his right hand to her in the classic Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper, Michael Burnham.” She returned the salute and felt for a moment as if she had found the brother she had never known she had always wanted. “Peace and long life, Spock.
”
”
David Mack (Desperate Hours (Star Trek: Discovery #1))
“
During my first few months of Facebooking, I discovered that my page had fostered a collective nostalgia for specific cultural icons. These started, unsurprisingly, within the realm of science fiction and fantasy. They commonly included a pointy-eared Vulcan from a certain groundbreaking 1960s television show.
Just as often, though, I found myself sharing images of a diminutive, ancient, green and disarmingly wise Jedi Master who speaks in flip-side down English. Or, if feeling more sinister, I’d post pictures of his black-cloaked, dark-sided, heavy-breathing nemesis. As an aside, I initially received from Star Trek fans considerable “push-back,” or at least many raised Spock brows, when I began sharing images of Yoda and Darth Vader. To the purists, this bordered on sacrilege.. But as I like to remind fans, I was the only actor to work within both franchises, having also voiced the part of Lok Durd from the animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
It was the virality of these early posts, shared by thousands of fans without any prodding from me, that got me thinking. Why do we love Spock, Yoda and Darth Vader so much? And what is it about characters like these that causes fans to click “like” and “share” so readily?
One thing was clear: Cultural icons help people define who they are today because they shaped who they were as children. We all “like” Yoda because we all loved The Empire Strikes Back, probably watched it many times, and can recite our favorite lines. Indeed, we all can quote Yoda, and we all have tried out our best impression of him.
When someone posts a meme of Yoda, many immediately share it, not just because they think it is funny (though it usually is — it’s hard to go wrong with the Master), but because it says something about the sharer. It’s shorthand for saying, “This little guy made a huge impact on me, not sure what it is, but for certain a huge impact. Did it make one on you, too? I’m clicking ‘share’ to affirm something you may not know about me. I ‘like’ Yoda.”
And isn’t that what sharing on Facebook is all about? It’s not simply that the sharer wants you to snortle or “LOL” as it were. That’s part of it, but not the core. At its core is a statement about one’s belief system, one that includes the wisdom of Yoda.
Other eminently shareable icons included beloved Tolkien characters, particularly Gandalf (as played by the inimitable Sir Ian McKellan). Gandalf, like Yoda, is somehow always above reproach and unfailingly epic.
Like Yoda, Gandalf has his darker counterpart. Gollum is a fan favorite because he is a fallen figure who could reform with the right guidance. It doesn’t hurt that his every meme is invariably read in his distinctive, blood-curdling rasp.
Then there’s also Batman, who seems to have survived both Adam West and Christian Bale, but whose questionable relationship to the Boy Wonder left plenty of room for hilarious homoerotic undertones. But seriously, there is something about the brooding, misunderstood and “chaotic-good” nature of this superhero that touches all of our hearts.
”
”
George Takei
“
Maybe that would be less crucial under Obama, Podesta thought, because Obama's approach was so intellectual. He compared Obama to Spock from Star Trek. The president-elect wanted to put his own ideas to work. He was unsentimental and capable of being ruthless. Podesta was not sure that Obama felt anything, especially in his gut. He intellectualized and then charted the path forward, essentially picking up the emotions of others and translating them into ideas. He had thus created a different kind of politics, seizing the moment of 2008 and driving it to a political victory.
”
”
Bob Woodward (Obama's Wars)
“
When people consider the trolley problem, here’s what brain imaging reveals: In the footbridge scenario, areas involved in motor planning and emotion become active. In contrast, in the track-switch scenario, only lateral areas involved in rational thinking become active. People register emotionally when they have to push someone; when they only have to tip a lever, their brain behaves like Star Trek’s Mr. Spock.
”
”
David Eagleman (Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain)
“
How delightful to be so different from something.... No need to understand them, particularly: that might come with time, and would be an added delight. But it was enough to accept their difference, to celebrate just that, without anything added. Creation, in itself, was joy. The difference was joy, the celebration of it was joy. There was nothing that could stand against that joy: sooner or later it would triumph.
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
“
Over time, researchers who look at the adolescent brain have therefore alighted on a variety of metaphors and analogies to describe their excesses. Casey prefers Star Trek: “Teenagers are more Kirk than Spock.” Steinberg likens teenagers to cars with powerful accelerators and weak brakes. “And then parents are going to get into tussles with their teenagers,” says Steinberg, “because they’re going to try to be the brakes.
”
”
Jennifer Senior (All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood)
“
Instead, what he was discovering, as I did, was that there was no such thing as post–Star Trek. In almost every story or review about whatever it was he was doing, almost inevitably there would be a reference or a comparison to Spock. “Tevye is not recognizable as Spock” or his character in the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers “is the evil side of Spock.” I’ve wondered if reporters or critics ever realized when they wrote that he had successfully made the audience forget Spock for a few hours that they actually were pointing out that no one had really forgotten about Spock. Forgotten?
”
”
William Shatner (Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man)
“
You’re right, we should keep things professional between us. Please—let’s give it a shot.” She looked down into her lap and fiddled with the tie on the front of the cashmere pants. “No more fooling around?” “Scout’s honor,” he said, raising his hand with his palm toward her, thumb extended, fingers parted between his middle and ring finger. Holly stared at his hand and frowned. “What the hell kind of Boy Scout were you?” “I wasn’t. That’s a Vulcan salute.” “Star Trek?” “Yep. Much more meaningful to a geek than any Boy Scout pledge. As Spock is my witness, I’ll do my very best to keep my hands off you.” She
”
”
Tawna Fenske (The Fix Up (First Impressions #1))
“
As I soon learned, this was the dream to which Gene had alluded so often in the past. Interestingly, though he’d said many times before that there might be something in this for me, that day I won a part that had yet to be created. It was only after I’d been brought on board, and Gene and I conceived and created her, that Uhura was born. Many times through the years I’ve referred to Uhura as my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of the twenty-third century. Gene and I agreed that she would be a citizen of the United States of Africa. And her name, Uhura, is derived from Uhuru, which is Swahili for “freedom.” According to the “biography” Gene and I developed for my character, Uhura was far more than an intergalactic telephone operator. As head of Communications, she commanded a corps of largely unseen communications technicians, linguists, and other specialists who worked in the bowels of the Enterprise, in the “comm-center.” A linguistics scholar and a top graduate of Starfleet Academy, she was a protégée of Mr. Spock, whom she admired for his daring, his intelligence, his stoicism, and especially his logic. We even had outlined exactly where Uhura had grown up, who her parents were, and why she had been chosen over other candidates for the Enterprise’s five-year mission.
”
”
Nichelle Nichols (Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories)
“
He lifted an eyebrow at his self-indulgence, made a note to himself to spend a little extra time in the Disciplines that evening, and moved to the terminal. Its chiming stopped as he touched it: another second and the terminal had read his EEG through his skin, recognizing the pattern. The screen filled with column on column of blue symbology, a list of calls to the flat since he left. Most of them were unimportant compared to the one name and commcode at the far right-hand side of the list, the most recent, the one message that had caused the “urgent” chime. He had rather been hoping that the embassy would not need him further today: but hope was illogical. Life was about dealing with what was. He touched the screen, and the computer dialed the code. He waited a moment or so before speaking. The link was scrambled, and before communications began, the computer had to agree with the one on the other end as to the eighty-digit “satchel” crypton they would use to keep the link secure. He had the utmost confidence in the ciphering process. Ninety-six standard years before, he had invented it. He
”
”
Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
“
I’d go up to her house and lie on the carpet beside the long low bookshelves. My usual company was an edition of Aesop’s Fables and, perhaps my favorite, Bulfinch’s Mythology. I would leaf through the pages, pausing only to crack a few nuts while I absorbed accounts of flying horses, intricate labyrinths, and serpent-haired Gorgons who turned mortals to stone. I was in awe of Odysseus, and liked Zeus, Apollo, Hermes, and Athena well enough, but the deity I admired most had to be Hephaestus: the ugly god of fire, volcanoes, blacksmiths, and carpenters, the god of tinkerers. I was proud of being able to spell his Greek name, and of knowing that his Roman name, Vulcan, was used for the home planet of Spock from Star Trek. The fundamental premise of the Greco-Roman pantheon always stuck with me. Up at the summit of some mountain there was this gang of gods and goddesses who spent most of their infinite existence fighting with each other and spying on the business of humanity. Occasionally, when they noticed something that intrigued or disturbed them, they disguised themselves, as lambs and swans and lions, and descended the slopes of Olympus to investigate and meddle.
”
”
Edward Snowden (Permanent Record)
“
Like stress, emotion is a concept we often invoke without a precise sense of its meaning. And, like stress, emotions have several components. The psychologist Ross Buck distinguishes between three levels of emotional responses, which he calls Emotion I, Emotion II and Emotion III, classified according to the degree we are conscious of them. Emotion III is the subjective experience, from within oneself. It is how we feel. In the experience of Emotion III there is conscious awareness of an emotional state, such as anger or joy or fear, and its accompanying bodily sensations. Emotion II comprises our emotional displays as seen by others, with or without our awareness. It is signalled through body language — “non-verbal signals, mannerisms, tones of voices, gestures, facial expressions, brief touches, and even the timing of events and pauses between words. [They] may have physiologic consequences — often outside the awareness of the participants.”
It is quite common for a person to be oblivious to the emotions he is communicating, even though they are clearly read by those around him. Our expressions of Emotion II are what most affect other people, regardless of our intentions. A child’s displays of Emotion II are also what parents are least able to tolerate if the feelings being manifested trigger too much anxiety in them. As Dr. Buck points out, a child whose parents punish or inhibit this acting-out of emotion will be conditioned to respond to similar emotions in the future by repression. The self-shutdown serves to prevent shame and rejection. Under such conditions, Buck writes, “emotional competence will be compromised…. The individual will not in the future know how to effectively handle the feelings and desires involved. The result would be a kind of helplessness.” The stress literature amply documents that helplessness, real or perceived, is a potent trigger for biological stress responses. Learned helplessness is a psychological state in which subjects do not extricate themselves from stressful situations even when they have the physical opportunity to do so. People often find themselves in situations of learned helplessness — for example, someone who feels stuck in a dysfunctional or even abusive relationship, in a stressful job or in a lifestyle that robs him or her of true freedom.
Emotion I comprises the physiological changes triggered by emotional stimuli, such as the nervous system discharges, hormonal output and immune changes that make up the flight-or-fight reaction in response to threat. These responses are not under conscious control, and they cannot be directly observed from the outside. They just happen. They may occur in the absence of subjective awareness or of emotional expression. Adaptive in the acute threat situation, these same stress responses are harmful when they are triggered chronically without the individual’s being able to act in any way to defeat the perceived threat or to avoid it. Self-regulation, writes Ross Buck, “involves in part the attainment of emotional competence, which is defined as the ability to deal in an appropriate and satisfactory way with one’s own feelings and desires.” Emotional competence presupposes capacities often lacking in our society, where “cool” — the absence of emotion — is the prevailing ethic, where “don’t be so emotional” and “don’t be so sensitive” are what children often hear, and where rationality is generally considered to be the preferred antithesis of emotionality. The idealized cultural symbol of rationality is Mr. Spock, the emotionally crippled Vulcan character on Star Trek.
”
”
Gabor Maté (When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress)
“
ever. Amen. Thank God for self-help books. No wonder the business is booming. It reminds me of junior high school, where everybody was afraid of the really cool kids because they knew the latest, most potent putdowns, and were not afraid to use them. Dah! But there must be another reason that one of the best-selling books in the history of the world is Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray. Could it be that our culture is oh so eager for a quick fix? What a relief it must be for some people to think “Oh, that’s why we fight like cats and dogs, it is because he’s from Mars and I am from Venus. I thought it was just because we’re messed up in the head.” Can you imagine Calvin Consumer’s excitement and relief to get the video on “The Secret to her Sexual Satisfaction” with Dr. GraySpot, a picture chart, a big pointer, and an X marking the spot. Could that “G” be for “giggle” rather than Dr. “Graffenberg?” Perhaps we are always looking for the secret, the gold mine, the G-spot because we are afraid of the real G-word: Growth—and the energy it requires of us. I am worried that just becoming more educated or well-read is chopping at the leaves of ignorance but is not cutting at the roots. Take my own example: I used to be a lowly busboy at 12 East Restaurant in Florida. One Christmas Eve the manager fired me for eating on the job. As I slunk away I muttered under my breath, “Scrooge!” Years later, after obtaining a Masters Degree in Psychology and getting a California license to practice psychotherapy, I was fired by the clinical director of a psychiatric institute for being unorthodox. This time I knew just what to say. This time I was much more assertive and articulate. As I left I told the director “You obviously have a narcissistic pseudo-neurotic paranoia of anything that does not fit your myopic Procrustean paradigm.” Thank God for higher education. No wonder colleges are packed. What if there was a language designed not to put down or control each other, but nurture and release each other to grow? What if you could develop a consciousness of expressing your feelings and needs fully and completely without having any intention of blaming, attacking, intimidating, begging, punishing, coercing or disrespecting the other person? What if there was a language that kept us focused in the present, and prevented us from speaking like moralistic mini-gods? There is: The name of one such language is Nonviolent Communication. Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication provides a wealth of simple principles and effective techniques to maintain a laser focus on the human heart and innocent child within the other person, even when they have lost contact with that part of themselves. You know how it is when you are hurt or scared: suddenly you become cold and critical, or aloof and analytical. Would it not be wonderful if someone could see through the mask, and warmly meet your need for understanding or reassurance? What I am presenting are some tools for staying locked onto the other person’s humanness, even when they have become an alien monster. Remember that episode of Star Trek where Captain Kirk was turned into a Klingon, and Bones was freaking out? (I felt sorry for Bones because I’ve had friends turn into Cling-ons too.) But then Spock, in his cool, Vulcan way, performed a mind meld to determine that James T. Kirk was trapped inside the alien form. And finally Scotty was able to put some dilithium crystals into his phaser and destroy the alien cloaking device, freeing the captain from his Klingon form. Oh, how I wish that, in my youth or childhood,
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Kelly Bryson (Don't Be Nice, Be Real)
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KIuft (1985a, b) describes eight year old Tom, who could "space out," but remain aware of partially dissociated alter personalities. One, Marvin, was based on the character Captain Kirk of the TV series "Star Trek," and on the TV series character "Hulk." Marvin also represented Tom's father. Another alter personality was derived from Mr. Spock, who was also identified with his mother. Two female alter personalities had names taken from 'The Flintstones." The use of fantasy is clearly apparent despite the fantasized characters being identifications with real characters in the child's life. Tom gives us a glimpse of the transition of his fantasies becoming dissociated mental structures.
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Walter C. Young
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He once reduced the President of the United States—then a ceremonial post, but one much loved by people who lived within the old borders—to tears of laughter at a state dinner, by delivering a learned dissertation on computer data storage technology in a flawless Texan accent. The lady was later heard to propose an amendment to the Constitution to allow off-worlders to hold high public office, so that she could have him for her running mate in the next election. It
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
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Jim chuckled. “All right. Listen, can you get me an uplink to the ship from there? I want a look at the BBS.” Spock thought a moment. “That should be no problem. Wait a moment.” His fingers danced over the keys. McCoy
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
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McCoy rolled his eyes. “Ready, Captain,” Spock said. “It will be wanting your password.” Jim sat down and tapped at the keyboard for a moment, giving the command to find out whether he had any messages waiting. The computer screen said: (1) COMMON ROOM Jim changed areas. He typed: Read message. FROM: Llarian TO: Jas. T. Kirk DATE: 7468.55 SUBJECT: Further Advice Those
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))
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And yet you’re still a rude son of a bitch,” McCoy said. “If I am, Doctor,” Spock said, “it is a trait I share with billions of human beings.” I
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David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
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full disclosure, Mister Spock. Who is the Shenzhou’s XO to you?” “Her name is Michael Burnham,” Spock said. “She is . . . a friend of my family.” Pike was confused. “How well do you know her?” “She is a few years older than I am, so we rarely moved in the same social or academic circles. If not for her connection to my parents, I would barely know of her at all.” Having more facts had not made the matter any clearer to Pike. “Never mind the trip down memory lane, then.
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David Mack (Desperate Hours (Star Trek: Discovery #1))
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They celebrated in a bar, and after half a dozen cocktails came to the mutual decision that it would be a blast to get married. So Lisa bought a couple of rings in a pawnshop and they did the deed in the hotel chapel, reading their vows in Klingon off an iPhone in front of a guy in golden robes and Spock ears.
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Paul McAuley (Into Everywhere (Jackaroo, #2))
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It is not a lie to keep the truth to oneself.
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SPOCK
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Is it logical,” Kirk said, using the word cannily, “to assume the ship was stolen by a full-capacity crew?” “No, sir.” Spock tipped his head. “Her crew complement is five hundred. The odds against so many people developing leftist attitudes simultaneously, at one starbase, without a leak, are nine thousand—” “About the same odds as your giving us an answer without decimal points,” McCoy barbed. “I think we’ve been baited.
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Diane Carey (Dreadnought! (Star Trek: The Original Series Book 29))
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It’s hard to explain how important Star Trek is to me. I think I went to my first Star Trek convention when I was fifteen. So to hear that Leonard Nimoy—Mr. Spock—was on the phone, I was not processing what he was saying. I could only focus on his amazing voice. I thought this was a phone call to see if he’d agree to do the part, but in his mind, he had already agreed to do it! He had one specific note on the script, which is that Mr. Spock doesn’t use contractions when he speaks. He says “cannot;” he doesn’t say “can’t.” And I remember just being chagrined that I hadn’t intervened and had allowed this to go on. I loved Spock so much, I used to sneak lines of Mr. Spock dialogue from the movies and TV shows into Big Bang Theory and give them to Sheldon. There’s an episode early on where Sheldon and Leonard are having a fight, and Penny asks, “Well, how do you feel?” And Sheldon replies, “I don’t understand the question.” That’s from the beginning of Star Trek IV where Spock has reunited with his mind and his body, and is being quizzed by a computer about his status. So Leonard Nimoy was just one of many fanboy moments. I once said to LeVar Burton, “If I could go back in time and tell my teenage self there would be a day where I would eventually talk to three crew members of the USS Enterprise, I’d fall over and die.
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Jessica Radloff (The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series)
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Why we are not always rational decision makers
One of the most important observations from psychological research is that many decisions are made by automatic, unconscious processes on the basis of information that our conscious, rational brains are hardly aware of. There is accumulating psychological and neuroscience evidence that thinking is the product of two separate systems of reasoning: a rule-based system, which is conscious, rational and deliberate, and an associative system, which is unconscious, sensory-driven and impulsive (Sloman, 1996; 2007). In their book
Nudge
, Thaler and Sunstein, (2008) liken the rule-based system to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, and the associative system to Homer Simpson.
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Christie Manning (The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior)
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In 2014, we worked together for the last time. We did a Volkswagen commercial—for German television. It was a simple concept to introduce its new electric car. In recognition of the international appeal of Star Trek, a young German boy recognizes me. As the theme plays in the background, he runs into his room, which is filled from floor to ceiling with Star Trek memorabilia. Then, as the Star Trek theme plays, a garage door slowly lifts open to reveal—the new Volkswagen—with me driving. As the two of us drive along, we suddenly stop next to a futuristic concept car—with Leonard driving. He looks at us, looks at the car, and says the one word that so defined Spock: “Fascinating.” It’s hard to believe that was the last time I saw him, but it was.
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William Shatner (Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man)
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Spock split his attention between Burnham and the path ahead. “I doubt either of us would be welcomed among Vulcan crews. As quick as they are to profess the wisdom of IDIC, they remain in many ways quite provincial.” It pained Burnham to admit to herself that Spock was likely correct. IDIC—the Vulcan philosophy that extolled the virtue of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations—all too often was honored in its breach rather than its observance. If someone as famous as Spock, son of Sarek, thinks he’d be persona non grata on an all-Vulcan ship, what chance will I ever have? She rebelled against a swell of desperation
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David Mack (Desperate Hours (Star Trek: Discovery #1))
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We inhabit two universes, then, One is the universe inside our skulls - our viewpoint universe, as it were.
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James Blish (Spock Must Die! (Star Trek Adventures, #1))
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Are you sure it isn't time for a colourful metaphor?
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SPOCK
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Spock: Fear of death is illogical.
Bones: Fear of death is what keeps us alive.
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Star Trek Beyond
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If I am, Doctor,” Spock said, “it is a trait I share with billions of human beings.” I
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David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
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Consider Mr. Spock of Star Trek, a naive archetype of rationality. Spock’s emotional state is always set to “calm,” even when wildly inappropriate. He often gives many significant digits for probabilities that are grossly uncalibrated. (E.g., “Captain, if you steer the Enterprise directly into that black hole, our probability of surviving is only 2.234%.” Yet nine times out of ten the Enterprise is not destroyed.
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Eliezer Yudkowsky (Rationality: From AI to Zombies)
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Couldn’t you build some form of computer aid here?” I said. “In this zinc-plated, vacuum-tubed culture?” Sometimes Spock spoke to me as though I was an idiot, and I knew most captains wouldn’t put up with that from their first officers. But I accepted it as part of the package. And I had my own ways of torturing him.
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David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
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You disrespected our traditions,” T’Pau said. “I did not mean to,” I said. I suppose I could’ve blamed McCoy for what happened at Spock’s wedding, but that didn’t seem logical. “I apologize if that was the result.” “It was,” T’Pau said. We stood in silence for a long moment. I knew there was nothing more to say. She then looked at me. “You have increased your weight. It is not healthful.” She then turned and floated away with her entourage. Did she come all that way to tell me I had gotten fat?
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David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
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Spock decided at that moment to surprise me. “I felt for him too,” he said. I didn’t know what to make of that. Spock had never openly revealed an emotional side. But in that moment of despair, of loss, of losing the best friend I’d ever had, his decision to show me empathy was one I wouldn’t forget. “There may be hope for you yet, Mr. Spock,” I said. It was probably the first time I’d smiled in a month.
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David A. Goodman (The Autobiography of James T. Kirk (Star Trek Autobiographies Series))
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There are some things logic is not good for.
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
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Cast out fear. Cast out hate and rage. Cast out greed and envy.
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: the Original Series #32))
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The LAPD’s Public Information Division planted favorable newspaper stories in the press, published its own magazine, and closely cooperated with the creators of the popular TV series Dragnet, down to reviewing each one of its scripts. (The future creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, worked in the PID and was Parker’s speechwriter for a time. He based Mr. Spock, the coldly rationalistic science officer, on Parker.)
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John Ganz (When the Clock Broke: Con Men, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s)
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Sarek: Do you have a message for your mother?
Spock: Yes. Tell her I feel fine.
Spock: Live long and prosper, Father.
Sarek: Live long and prosper, my son.
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Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Star Trek: The Original Series #1; Movie Novelization #1))
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Having is not so pleasing a thing as wanting.
It is not logical, but it is often true
From Everything I Needed to Know I learned from STAR TREK
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SPOCK
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The drive to convert people's minds and hearts has caused more grief, more suffering, more loss of life than any desire for property, riches, or even the necessities of survival.
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Vonda N. McIntyre (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Movie Tie-In Novelization (Star Trek: The Original Series Book 17))
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This troubled planet is a place of most violent contrasts. Those who receive the rewards are totally separated from those who shoulder the burdens. It is not a wise leadership.
- Mr. Spock
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Margaret Armen (Star Trek 12)
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Spock: Captain, your analysis of the situation was flawless; anticipating that she would deny you admittance. However, the logic by which you arrived at your conclusion escapes me.
Kirk: Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in the galaxy that can make that claim.
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Star Trek The Original Series Season 3 - Elaan of Troyus
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You might think the alien worlds in the original Star Trek look fake. You might think the blinky lights on those old sets are silly. You might not love those oh-so-tight 1960s velour uniforms. But nobody thinks Spock’s pointed ears look bad. The ears are legit. It’s one of those classic Hollywood tricks that should be hugely impressive but somehow isn’t praised enough. Whether the stoic Vulcan is played by Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, or Ethan Peck, the applause for the most famous fake alien ears is mostly absent. And that’s because the ears work. Praising Spock’s ears would be like praising James Bond’s tailor; you expect Spock to look that way. The believability of Spock’s ears allowed the characters—and by extension the earliest Star Trek—to prevent the entire series from becoming, as Leonard Nimoy had worried in 1964, “a bad sci-fi joke.
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Ryan Britt (Phasers on Stun!: How the Making (and Remaking) of Star Trek Changed the World)
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There was a slight pause, as though Spock were steeling himself. “Do you consider my abandonment of Kolinahr to be an embarrassment?” Suddenly Amanda turned and faced her son. “Oh, Spock, no,” she said tenderly.
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Scott Harrison (Shadow of the Machine (Star Trek: The Original Series))
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History is replete with turning points. You must have faith that the universe will unfold as it should - Spock
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Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Preview Program with Signatures)
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History is replete with turning points. You must have faith that the universe will unfold as it should - Spock - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
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Gene Roddenberry Leonard Nimoy Lawrence Konner
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When you eliminate the impossible, all that remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’ That’s Spock in Star Trek VI, but he’s paraphrasing Sherlock Holmes.
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Jason Rekulak (Hidden Pictures)
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We have here an unusual opportunity to appraise the human mind, or to examine, in Earth terms, the roles of good and evil in a man. His negative side, which you call hostility, lust, violence. And his positive side, which Earth people express as compassion, love, tenderness. —Star Trek, “The Enemy Within” (Spock) Suppose some mathematical creature from the moon were to reckon up the human body; he would at once see that the essential thing about it was that it was duplicate. A man is two men, he on the right exactly resembling him on the left. Having noted that there was an arm on the right and one on the left, a leg on the right and one on the left, he might go further and still find on each side the same number of fingers, the same number of toes, twin eyes, twin ears, twin nostrils, and even twin lobes of the brain. At last he would take it as a law; and then, where he found a heart on one side, would deduce that there was another heart on the other. And just then, where he most felt he was right, he would be wrong. —Gilbert Keith Chesterton
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Douglas E. Richards (The Cure)
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Basically, it was the equivalent of Star Trek II adding in a quick scene of Spock mind melding with Dr. “Bones” McCoy while saying “Remember” as a lifeline to resituate the doomed Spock in the third Star Trek movie, to tell audiences that there was a possibility of life after death for their fallen hero.
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Jason Waguespack (Rise and Fall of the 80s Toon Empire: A Behind the Scenes Look at When He-Man, G.I. Joe and Transformers Ruled The Airwaves (Rise and Fall of the Syndicated Toon Empire Book 1))
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She suggested writing about the 1969 moon landing, so I Googled it, and I found out lots of people didn’t really care that there were men walking on the moon. They all watched Star Trek (the original, old lousy-special-effects Beam Me Up Scotty Star Trek) and they were used to seeing Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock hopping around the universe so real people walking on the real moon wasn’t as exciting. I think that’s funny. Men were walking on the moon for the very first time in history and people preferred watching Dr. McCoy say, “He’s dead, Jim,” for the thousandth time.
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Susan Beth Pfeffer (Life as We Knew It (Last Survivors, #1))
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After a time you may find that having, is not so pleasing a thing after all, as wanting.
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Mr. Spock (Star Trek Original Series)
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Many times had Spock listened patiently while Sarek recounted, with thinly veiled bitterness, the manner in which humans, immediately following their first contact with the crew of a Vulcan scout ship, had captured the scouts and tortured them into divulging the secrets of interstellar navigation. In short order, the Terrans had turned the Vulcans’ knowledge to their own aims, laying the foundation for their nascent star empire.
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Mike Sussman (Glass Empires (Star Trek: Mirror Universe, #1))
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Vulcan has no moon,” various Vulcans have been heard to remark: accurate as always, when speaking scientifically. “Damn right it doesn’t,” at least one Terran has responded: “it has a nightmare.” T’Khut
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Diane Duane (Spock's World (Star Trek: The Original Series))