- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I'm told that your father is also dead.
- Jeremy Aster: Yes, sir. He died five years ago, from a Rushton infection. I'm all alone now, sir.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Jeremy, on the Starship Enterprise, no one is alone. No one.
- Lt. Commander Data: Since her death, I have been asked several times to define how well I knew Lieutenant Aster. And I heard you ask Wesley on the bridge how well he knew Jeremy. Does the question of familiarity have some bearing on death?
- Commander William T. Riker: Do you remember how we all felt when Tasha died?
- Lt. Commander Data: I do not sense the same feelings of absence that I associate with Lieutenant Yar. Although I cannot say precisely why.
- Commander William T. Riker: Just human nature, Data.
- Lt. Commander Data: Human nature, sir?
- Commander William T. Riker: We feel a loss more intensely when it's a friend.
- Lt. Commander Data: Hm... But should not the feelings run just as deep, regardless of who has died?
- Commander William T. Riker: Maybe they should, Data. Maybe if we felt any loss as keenly as we felt the death of one close to us - human history would be a lot less bloody.
- [the mother of Jeremy, a little boy, has died in an away mission]
- Commander William T. Riker: Do you know Jeremy well?
- Wesley Crusher: [shakes his head] But I know what this is gonna be like for him.
- Commander William T. Riker: That's part of life in Starfleet, Wesley.
- Wesley Crusher: I know. They're very careful to prepare us for anything. But still...
- Commander William T. Riker: I know.
- Wesley Crusher: How do you get used to it? The telling them?
- Commander William T. Riker: You hope you never do.
- Lieutenant Worf: I cannot seek revenge against an enemy who's turned to dust centuries ago. Her death was senseless! The last victim of a forgotten war!
- Wesley Crusher: Do you ever think about him, Mom?
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: Your father? Sure I do.
- Wesley Crusher: Sometimes... I can't even remember what his face looks like. It scares me.
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: It happens to all of us, Wes. Sometimes... I can't get his face *out* of my mind.
- Commander William T. Riker: [of the energy life form] She offers him everything. All we can offer is the cold reality of his mother's death.
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: What would you choose? If somebody came along and offered to give you back your mother, father or husband - would any of us say no so easily?
- Lt. Marla Aster: Your philosophy is curious, Captain. What is so noble about sorrow? I can provide him an existence where he will feel no pain, no anguish.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It is at the heart of our nature to feel pain - and joy. It is an essential part of what makes us what we are.
- Lieutenant Worf: [to Jeremy] Join me in the R'uustai - the Bonding. You will become part of my family now and for all time. We will be brothers.
- Wesley Crusher: [dealing with his own father's death] My parents had told me about the dangers of Starfleet missions. I knew it could happen.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: So you were prepared?
- Wesley Crusher: No, I wasn't prepared at all. How can anyone be prepared to hear that a parent is never coming home again?
- Lt. Marla Aster: It is our duty to make him happy again.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Do you honestly believe he would be happy in... this total fiction, which you wish to create? What reason would he have to live? What you're offering him is a memory - something to cherish. Not to live in. It is part of our life cycle that we accept the death of those we love. Jeremy must come to terms with his grief. He must not cover it, or hide away from it. You see, we are mortal. Our time in this universe is finite. That is one of the truths that all humans must learn.
- [last lines]
- Lieutenant Worf: SoS jIH batlh SoH.
- Jeremy Aster: What does that mean?
- Lieutenant Worf: It honors the memory of our mothers. We have bonded. And our families are stronger.
- Jeremy Aster: SoS jIH batlh SoH.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: [of the energy life form scanning the ship's data banks] It's looking over everything, Commander, going to school. Let's just hope it doesn't blow us to kingdom come while it's figuring out how to blow us to kingdom come.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: We deal with our pain in many different ways. But over the years, I've discovered it's in joy that the uniqueness of each individual is revealed. If I can help a person back to a state of joy... well, my role has its rewards.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Serving on a starship means accepting certain risks... certain dangers. Did Jeremy Aster make that choice?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Death and loss are an integral part of life everywhere. Leaving him on Earth would not have protected him.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No, but the Earth isn't likely to be ordered to the Neutral Zone or to repel a Romulan attack. It was my command which sent his mother to her death. She understood her mission and my duty. Will he?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: In time. And with help. Wesley Crusher does. He does. And so will Jeremy.
- Lieutenant Worf: The Marla Aster I knew and honored is not in this room, nor does she await you on the planet. She now only lives here...
- [he touches his chest, then Jeremy's]
- Lieutenant Worf: ...and here.
- [by posing as Lt. Aster, the energy life form intends to alleviate Jeremy's pain, which was accidentally caused by its species]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I appreciate your motives. But... his mother is dead. He must learn to live with that.
- Lt. Marla Aster: I will be every bit his mother!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: But not his mother.
- Lieutenant Worf: In my tradition, we do not grieve the loss of the body. We celebrate the releasing of the spirit.