10 Star Trek Quotes That Made Us Trekkies

Star Trek is one of the most quotable franchises out there for any fan, new or old. As Trekkies, we are birthed in a wealth of references that we can repeat at will — from the everyday Spockisms, the 'boldly go's, the variations on a theme of "I'm a doctor, not a…," to the nitty-gritty, knee-deep kind of citation that would be most at home in any cetacean observation.

By now, Star Trek contains thousands upon thousands of lines of dialogue, and a staggering quantity amongst them have become the memorable and transformative quotes that make us the fans we are today. Given the vast amount of options to choose from, this list will be as relatively short as it is subjective. Our first duty is to the quote, and we shall no doubt stumble before we find our footing, so keep your shirt on (lieutenant)!

Here, we will also stick to lines that were spoken on screen and not any made about Star Trek by those in it. These are those forever quotable quotes that define what it means to be a Trekkie. All that's really left to say is "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra… I am Locutus of Borg. You are Borg."

If we're talking making Trekkies (or 'Trekkers,' if you prefer), we first have to go back to the makings of Trek. In The Original Series episode Return to Tomorrow, the crew of the Enterprise get a strange call from an unexplored region of space. When they arrive at the source, they find a devastated planet and, beneath the surface, the remnants of a once powerful species who might have seeded life on Earth and Vulcan. They are Sargon and co., the Arretans, now living as energy in big balls.

Asked by the Arretans if they might lend out their bodies for a bit, Kirk gives his now legendary, rousing speech to reassure those crewmembers assembled in the briefing room. What "this starship is all about" is, by extension, what Star Trek and its fandom are all about too.

Kirk is not asking anyone, crew or audience, to take reckless risks without proper consideration, but to dare, to dare to move beyond our trepidations and make choices that just might lead to new possibilities, knowledge, and advancement. Risk is the business of every explorer, whether you've got a starship to do it or not. Risk is also part of Star Trek's very existence — no one had to take a punt on that second pilot, after all.