Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series)

The Drumhead (1991)

Patrick Stewart: Captain Jean-Luc Picard

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Quotes 

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie, as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today...

  Admiral Nora Satie : How dare you! You who consort with Romulans, invoke my father's name to support your traitorous arguments. It is an offense to everything I hold dear. And to hear those words used to subvert the United Federation of Planets. My father was a great man! His name stands for integrity and principle. You dirty his name when you speak it! He loved the Federation. But you, Captain, corrupt it. You undermine our very way of life. I will expose you for what you are. I've brought down bigger men than you, Picard!

• [last lines] 

  Lieutenant Worf : [referring to Admiral Satie]  I believed her. I, I helped her. I did not see what she was.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Mister Worf, villains who twirl their moustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.

  Lieutenant Worf : I think... after yesterday, people will not be so ready to trust her.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mister Worf - that is the price we have to continually pay.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Have we become so... fearful, have we become so cowardly... that we must extinguish a man? Because he carries the blood of a current enemy?

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : The Seventh Guarantee is one of the most important rights granted by the Federation. We cannot take a fundamental principle of the Constitution and turn it against a citizen.

  Lieutenant Worf : Sir, the Federation *does* have enemies. We *must* seek them out!

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Oh, yes. That's how it starts. But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mister Worf. I don't like what we have become.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : This is not unlike a... a drumhead trial.

  Lieutenant Worf : I do not understand.

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : 500 years ago, military officers would upend a drum on the battlefield. They'd sit at it and dispense summary justice. Decisions were quick, punishments severe; appeals denied. Those who came to a drumhead were doomed.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Admiral. What you're doing here... is unethical. It's immoral. I'll fight it.

  Admiral Nora Satie : Do what you must, Captain. And so will I.

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard : I am deeply concerned by what is happening here. It began when we apprehended a spy, a man who admitted his guilt and who will answer for his crime. But the hunt didn't end there. Another man, Mister Simon Tarses, was brought to trial and it was a trial, no matter what others choose to call it. A trial based on insinuation and innuendo. Nothing substantive offered against Mister Tarses, much less proven. Mister Tarses' grandfather is Romulan, and for that reason his career now stands in ruins. Have we become so fearful? Have we become so cowardly that we must extinguish a man because he carries the blood of a current enemy? Admiral, let us not condemn Simon Tarses, or anyone else, because of their bloodlines, or investigate others for their innocent associations. I implore you, do not continue with this proceeding. End it now.

• Admiral Nora Satie : Captain, do you believe in the Prime Directive?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Of course.

  Admiral Nora Satie : In fact, it's Starfleet's General Order Number One, is it not?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Your point, Admiral?

  Admiral Nora Satie : Would it surprise you to learn that you have violated the Prime Directive a total of nine times since you took command of the Enterprise? I must say, Captain, it surprised the hell out of me.

• Admiral Nora Satie : Tell me, Captain, have you completely recovered from your experience with the Borg?

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : Yes, I have completely recovered.

  Admiral Nora Satie : It must have been awful for you... actually becoming one of them. Being forced to use your vast knowledge of Starfleet operations to aid the Borg. Just how many of our ships were lost? Thirty-nine? And a loss of life, I believe, measured at nearly 11,000. One wonders how you can sleep at night, having caused so much destruction. I question your actions, Captain; I question your choices, I question your loyalty!

• [first lines] 

  Captain Jean-Luc Picard : [voiceover]  Captain's log, stardate 44769.2. For some weeks, we have had a Klingon exobiologist on board as part of a scientific exchange programme. Unfortunately, we suspect that he was involved in a security breach and in the possible sabotage of our warp drive.