Star Trek (TV Series)

Space Seed (1967)

DeForest Kelley: Dr. McCoy

Photos 

Quotes 

• Dr. McCoy : [lying in sickbay, Khan surprises McCoy and holds a knife to his throat, then pauses]  Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.

  Khan Noonien Singh : English... I thought I dreamed hearing it. Where am I?

  Dr. McCoy : You're in...

  [Khan tightens his grip. McCoy continues in a lower voice] 

  Dr. McCoy : You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.

  Khan Noonien Singh : Answer my question.

  Dr. McCoy : It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.

  Khan Noonien Singh : [impressed, releases McCoy]  I like a brave man.

  Dr. McCoy : [takes the knife from Khan]  I was simply trying to avoid an argument.

• Captain James T. Kirk : [about to beam aboard the Botany Bay]  You ready, Bones?

  Dr. McCoy : No. I signed aboard this ship to practice medicine, not to have my atoms scattered back and forth across space by this gadget.

  Captain James T. Kirk : You're an old-fashioned boy, McCoy.

• Captain James T. Kirk : [looking at a library picture of Khan on viewscreen]  Name: Khan Noonien Singh.

  Mr. Spock : From 1992 through 1996, absolute ruler of more than a quarter of your world, from Asia through the Middle East.

  Dr. McCoy : The last of the tyrants to be overthrown.

  Scott : I must confess, gentlemen. I've always held a sneaking admiration for this one.

  Captain James T. Kirk : He was the best of the tyrants and the most dangerous. They were supermen in a sense. Stronger, braver, certainly more ambitious, more daring.

  Mr. Spock : Gentlemen, this romanticism about a ruthless dictator is...

  Captain James T. Kirk : Mr. Spock, we humans have a streak of barbarism in us. Appalling, but there, nevertheless.

  Scott : There were no massacres under his rule.

  Mr. Spock : And as little freedom.

  Dr. McCoy : No wars until he was attacked.

  Mr. Spock : Gentlemen...

  [Everyone but Spock laugh] 

  Captain James T. Kirk : Mr. Spock, you misunderstand us. We can be against him and admire him all at the same time.

  Mr. Spock : Illogical.

  Captain James T. Kirk : Totally.

• Captain James T. Kirk : Lieutenant, at any one time, the safety of this entire vessel might depend on the performance of a single crewman aboard, and the fact that you find a man strangely compelling to you personally...

  Lt. Marla McGivers : Not personally, Captain. Professionally. My profession is historian, and when I specimen from the past alive, I'm in the sheer delight of examining his mind.

  Captain James T. Kirk : And men were more adventuresome then. Bolder, more coloful.

  Lt. Marla McGivers : Yes, sir, I think they were.

  Captain James T. Kirk : Good. If I can have honesty, it's easier to overlook mistakes. That's all.

  Lt. Marla McGivers : Yes, sir.

  [She leaves sickbay] 

  Dr. McCoy : A pity you wasted your life on command, Jim. You'd made a fair psychologist.

  Captain James T. Kirk : [in mock arrogance]  Fair?

• Captain James T. Kirk : [the landing party has beamed aboard the Botany Bay]  Scotty?

  Scott : Definitely Earth-type mechanism, sir. Twentieth century vessel. Old type atomic power. Bulky, solid. I think they used to call them transistor units. I'd love to tear this baby apart.

  Lt. Marla McGivers : Captain, it's a sleeper ship.

  Captain James T. Kirk : Suspended animation.

  Lt. Marla McGivers : I've seen old photographs of this. Necessary because of the time involved in space travel until about the year 2018. It took years just to travel from one planet to another.

  Captain James T. Kirk : Is it possible they're still alive after centuries of travel?

  Dr. McCoy : It's theoretically possible. I've never heard of it being tested for this long a period.

• Captain James T. Kirk : The bridge is yours, Mr. Spock. Care to join the landing party, Doctor?

  Dr. McCoy : Well, if you're actually giving me a choice...

  Captain James T. Kirk : I'm not. Oh, I'll need somebody familiar with the late 20th Century Earth. Here's a chance for that historian to do something for a change. What's her name? McIvers?

  Mr. Spock : [corrects]  Lieutenant McGivers.