- Riva: [after Riva's Chorus were slain and they beamed back, Riva is ranting in sign language] Stupid false egoistical...
- [rambles on with back turned to camera]
- Riva: ... tired of everything... three dead! What will we do now?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: How did this happen?
- Commander William T. Riker: A total surprise. Apparently a member of one of the factions didn't like the idea of peace.
- Riva: ...any time think
- [Rubs hands through hair in frustration]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I don't understand what you're trying to say.
- [Pleading gesture to Troi]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Counselor.
- Riva: I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to myself!
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Riva, go slowly.
- Riva: What!
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Slowly.
- Riva: I'm not talking to him anyway.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Can you write it out?
- Riva: No! Leave me alone!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I am so sorry that your friends were killed.
- Riva: I don't need your pity!
- Riva: [Riva and Picard are talking simultaneously] ... tired of all of you hearing people not understanding me! I'm not talking to you anyway.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I'm sorry, I-I don't know what you are trying to tell me. We have to find some way to communicate with him.
- Riva: I'm tired of you hearing people, arg!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Data, he knows some kind of gestural language. Find out which one and learn it.
- Lt. Commander Data: Aye, sir.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Counselor, take him to Sick Bay. Maybe Pulaski can help.
- Riva: I - my friends are dead! I-
- [Picard grabs Riva's head]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Listen to me! You are not alone! Do you understand? We are all in this together... now.
- [Riva explains how he intends to mediate between the adversarial parties]
- Lt. Commander Data: [interpreting Riva's sign language] Learning sign will be a part of their process of learning how to live together in peace.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: [explaining] While they're learning how to communicate with Riva, they'll be learning how to communicate with each other.
- Lt. Commander Data: [interpreting] And that is the first and most important aspect of any relationship.
- [last lines]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [to Troi] You read me well enough to sense how I feel about you, and what you do on this ship. But I just wanted to say the words: thank you. Well done.
- Commander William T. Riker: You will be careful, sir?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, cluck, cluck, cluck, Number One.
- Commander William T. Riker: Sir?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: You're being a mother hen.
- Scholar: [introducing Riva's Chorus] We serve as translators. We convey not only his thoughts, but his emotional intent as well. I am the scholar. I represent the intellect and speak in matters of judgment, philosophy, logic. Also, I am the dreamer, the part that longs to see the beauty beyond the truth, which is always the first duty of art. I am the poet, who...
- Warrior: Artists. They tend to ramble, neglect the moment. I am passion, the libido. I am the anarchy of lust. The romantic and the lover. I am also the warrior, the perfect line, which never wavers.
- Harmony: I am that which binds all the others together. I am harmony, wisdom, balance.
- Harmony: What is that you're wearing?
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: A visor. It interprets the electromagnetic spectrum and then carries the readings to my brain.
- Harmony: Your visor serves the same function as my Chorus, which interprets my thoughts and translates them into sound?
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: Yes
- Harmony: And dont you resent it ?
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: The visor or being blind ?
- Harmony: Either
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: No, since they're both part of me, and I really like who I am, there's no reason for me to resent either one.
- Harmony: It's a blessing to understand we are special, each in his own way.
- [a welcoming party is preparing to meet mediator Riva on his planet]
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Have your sensors indicated any problem down there, Lieutenant?
- Lieutenant Worf: None.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: But you're feeling a certain confusion about this mission.
- Lieutenant Worf: No.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Yes! I've never known you to have such strong emotions, except when you're expecting to do battle.
- Lieutenant Worf: I am not expecting battle.
- Commander William T. Riker: Then what is bothering you?
- Lieutenant Worf: [taking a moment] Riva.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Ah. Riva negotiated several treaties between the Klingons and the Federation.
- Lieutenant Worf: Before him, there was no Klingon word for '*peace*-maker'.
- [Riva is being briefed on the conflict on Solais V]
- Scholar: [interpreting for Riva] There is no need to continue. The specific issues of the conflict have no relevance.
- Commander William T. Riker: So, none of the background which we have provided would be helpful in understanding why they continue to fight?
- Scholar: [interpreting] The portfolio will indicate that the conflict is over a piece of land or wealth or some other tangible asset. But we both know that is not the case.
- Commander William T. Riker: [understanding] They have been at war for so long, it has become personal.
- Scholar: [interpreting] Exactly. The basis for peace must also be personal.
- Lt. Commander Data: [interpreting Riva's sign language] The real secret is turning disadvantage into advantage.
- Lt. Commander Data: Captain, I have reviewed and stored five distinct signing languages. Here is an example of the first:
- [he starts making signs]
- Lt. Commander Data: This is 'blue'. This is 'the blue ocean'. This is 'the blue ocean at sunset'. This is two people walking along the beach by the blue ocean at sunset. This is two happy people in love walking along the beach by the blue ocean at sunset. This is two pe...
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Enough.
- [gets up and walks to Data, intrigued]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Let's talk to Riva.
- Lt. Commander Data: Counselor, it took me only moments to learn sign language. It will take them months.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Time well spent.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: [interpreting Riva's sign language for herself] Words... are here, on top... What's under them... their meaning... is what's important.
- Scholar: [interpreting for Riva] They have been killing each other for a long time. Now they want to talk peace. So, something about the situation has recently changed. What's the new piece to the puzzle?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Data?
- Lt. Commander Data: Unknown, sir.
- Commander William T. Riker: Perhaps they have run out of people to kill.
- Commander William T. Riker: Our job is not to police the galaxies.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Isn't that my speech, Number One?
- Warrior: [Interpreting for Riva] Sometimes we must allow the surroundings to flow over us, to dwell on each separate part. How it feels. To allow it to fill you.