- Elani: [referring to Tuvok's children] If Vulcans don't feel anything, does that mean you don't love them?
- Lieutenant Tuvok: My attachment to my children cannot be described as an emotion. They are part of my identity. And I am... incomplete without them.
- Alcia: My people believe that physical matter's only an illusion. The body is not the true self, only a representation.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: One of our greatest philosophers, Plato, wrote that what we see around us are only poor shadows of ideal objects which exist on a higher plane.
- Alcia: That is similar to our teachings. Our connection to what you call a "higher plane" is more important than our attachment to this brief existence, however real it may seem.
- Alcia: Near the end of life, we reach a stage of complete innocence. We free ourselves from all responsibilities to this life; then we leave it peacefully.
- Tressa: I'll really be quiet this time. I won't touch anything.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: That would make it difficult for you to assist me with repairs.
- Elani: I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't like it here.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Your displeasure doesn't change our situation, nor does it bring us any closer to a solution.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: This is First Prelate Alcia of Drayan II.
- The Doctor: It's an honor to meet you. We don't often receive such distinguished guests here - unless there's been some sort of accident.
- [Janeway and Paris are going through the shuttle preflight sequence]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I think we've got all the basics. Computer, initiate cold-launch sequence.
- Lieutenant Tom Paris: Or we could just skip preflight altogether.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Definitely not recommended, but sometimes necessary.
- Lieutenant Tom Paris: I'll remember that.
- Alcia: Do your people consider advanced technology to be their highest achievement?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Not as an end in itself. The purpose of all this is to help us gain knowledge about the universe, and the people in it.
- Alcia: It's perfectly natural to be frightened. You're taking a step into the unknown. The attendants would have helped you prepare yourself; you were never meant to face this time alone.
- Tressa: We weren't alone. Tuvok was here. He stayed with us and made us feel safe. He told us there was no morrok and that we shouldn't be afraid. He took care of us - even when we didn't behave as well as Vulcan children.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Vulcans consider death to be the completion of a journey. There is nothing to fear.
- [last lines]
- Lieutenant Tuvok: We'll wait here as long as you like.
- Tressa: I know it's time. My only regret is leaving my family. My grandson. You remind me of him sometimes.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: You will still be with them in their thoughts, as you will be in mine.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Vulcans believe that a person's katra - what some might call a soul - continues to exist after the body dies.
- Elani: Do you believe that?
- Lieutenant Tuvok: When I was younger, I accepted it without question. In recent years, I have experienced doubts. I do believe there is more within each of us than science has yet explained.
- Tressa: I know we should have more faith. It's wrong to be afraid of death.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: There is nothing wrong in choosing to live.
- Tressa: I'd like to hear a story.
- Corin: Tell us one about the Fire Beast of Sullus.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: I never understood the practice in some cultures of describing ferocious creatures in an attempt to lull children to sleep.
- [Tuvok is preparing the children for a meditative exercise, making them fold their hands]
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Now close your eyes, and imagine all the energy in your body is flowing to the point where your fingertips meet. Nothing else you hear or feel is important. Let the outside world fade away. You exist only inside your mind.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: [referring to the morrok] Have any of you ever seen this creature?
- Elani: You can only see it when it comes for you. Then it's too late.
- [Tuvok tries to corral the children's rambunctiousness by getting them to meditate while he repairs his shuttlecraft]
- Corin: Do you have any children?
- Elani: Be quiet. We're trying to attain a meditative state.
- Corin: But I wanna know.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: I have four children. Now, you must concentrate.
- Corin: What are they like?
- Lieutenant Tuvok: [pointedly] Well-behaved.
- Lieutenant Tuvok: Vulcan parents never shield their children from the truth. Doing so would only hinder their ability to cope with inevitable difficulties.
- Alcia: It's been our custom for generations to avoid close contact with outsiders. I choose to honor that tradition.