Every Star Trek Reference, Easter Eggs & Jokes In The Simpsons
19. Mr. Burns Or Khan, What's The Difference?
Sticking with the Mr. Burns theme, the season two finale - Blood Feud - sees Montgomery in desperate need of a blood transfusion after he falls gravely ill. With Homer insisting on Bart giving his boss the blood type he needs, Burns replies with a card without any money in it.
After Bart sends a degrading reply to Mr. Burns, he is initially livid, before eventually forgiving Homer, sending his family an unnecessarily large carving of an Olmec. Upon his first read of the letter, though, that's when Burns utters the phrase "Revenge is a dish best served cold". Of course, that line was previously used by Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
When you fully understand just what both individuals are like as a person, you can see precisely why they both used such a symbolic line.