10 Examples Of Real Pop-Culture In Star Trek
1. Shakespeare
It's well-known that Picard was a massive Shakespeare fan. When Q visited the Cerritos in the Lower Decks episode Veritas, he even complained about Picard, saying that 'He's no fun, he's always quoting Shakespeare, he's always making wine'.
Q wasn't wrong. In the very first Next Gen episode, Encounter At Farpoint, he quoted 'kill all the lawyers' line from Henry VI, Part II, then, in the episode Ménage À Troi, he recited several lines from Shakespeare's sonnets and Othello, in order to save Lwaxana Troi from DaiMon Tog. This habit continued into Star Trek: Picard, with Jean-Luc quoting 'no legacy is as rich as honesty' from All's Well That Ends Well to his dog, Number One.
We can see in the Next Gen episode Hide And Q that Picard kept a copy of Shakespeare's complete works in his ready room, and the Enterprise-D often held live-performances of Shakespearian plays, so it's safe to say that the playwright was a major inspiration to the Captain.