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Quotable Star Trek
"...Good words. That's where ideas begin."
-- Dr. David Marcus to Admiral James T. Kirk, Star Trek® II: The Wrath of Khan™
It makes us wonder. It makes us smile. But most of all, it makes us think.
More than any other single aspect, Star Trek is defined by the strength of its ideas. For decades this television and movie phenomenon has reached out to its audience, spanning generations and inspiring them not simply with the power of its voice, but with the meaning behind it.
Quotable Star Trek demonstrates the truly universal appeal of Gene Roddenberry's extraorinary creation. Words of wit, wisdom, and compelling insight applicable to everyday life from The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation®, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine®, Star Trek Voyager®, and eight Star Trek motion pictures have been meticulously researched and collected in one volume. Intensely thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining, Quotable Star Trek has something for everyone, and is a must-have resource for every devoted fan.
-- Dr. David Marcus to Admiral James T. Kirk, Star Trek® II: The Wrath of Khan™
It makes us wonder. It makes us smile. But most of all, it makes us think.
More than any other single aspect, Star Trek is defined by the strength of its ideas. For decades this television and movie phenomenon has reached out to its audience, spanning generations and inspiring them not simply with the power of its voice, but with the meaning behind it.
Quotable Star Trek demonstrates the truly universal appeal of Gene Roddenberry's extraorinary creation. Words of wit, wisdom, and compelling insight applicable to everyday life from The Original Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation®, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine®, Star Trek Voyager®, and eight Star Trek motion pictures have been meticulously researched and collected in one volume. Intensely thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining, Quotable Star Trek has something for everyone, and is a must-have resource for every devoted fan.
374 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1999
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120 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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July 11, 2025Enjoyed it. Made you relive the moments when it was said and what was happening at the time.. Great fun.
July 18, 2023
Quotable Star Trek by Jill Sherwin is a 352 page paperback. I started it a while ago, but thinks like that are hard to read straight through.
The Star Trek writing project I’m doing though has caused me to look for Star Trek jokes. I can’t believe that there isn’t a Star Trek joke book but I couldn’t find one. This is the closest I’ve found so I’m going to try to mine it for jokes.
Wow. Nothing about the quotes so far has made me want to see the Star Trek series that I have missed!
Apparently Star Trek turned into a romance sitcom when I wasn’t looking.
There’s a Samuel T. Cogley quote in there. If you ever get a chance the book “The Case of the Colonist's Corpse: A Sam Cogley Mystery” is a really fun read. I’d love to see a series. I think mysteries in the Star Trek universe could be a lot of fun. I’m thinking back to the “Stainless Steel Rat” books I used to love.
Now I’ll admit I never watched enough TNG to know where this particular quote is from (first one on page 164) but this is the thing that always drove me crazy about that show and one of the reasons I stopped watching it!
“Now I have sworn to uphold it [the Prime Directive], but nevertheless I have disregarded that directive on more than one occasion…because I thought it was the right thing to do.”
If you feel that way, you’re an idiot and don’t understand the Prime Directive at all!
There is no way the Prime Directive every COULD, SHOULD or WOULD interfere with the ‘right thing to do’!!!
And I suspect the writer’s of TNG, VOY ENT and DS9 never really did get it…
“How many times have we been in the position of refusing to interfere when some kind of disaster threatened an alien culture?”
WTHOLYF?! That’s what the writer’s on Voyager thought the prime directive meant?!? Really? Would Spock say that was logical? Would Kirk not help an alien culture in a DISASTER!??! If that was the case the entire galaxy would be at war with the Federation because the Federation are dicks!?!
The Prime Directive merely means to not exploit a pre-warp culture and don’t let anyone else exploit a pre-warp culture! Really, it’s pretty simple!!
Ugh. I didn’t watch a lot of the TNG and onward shows but it sure seems like they liked to hook people together a lot. That most often seems like lazy writing to me.
I wanted to read this book because I often use Star Trek quotes in writing about Star Trek. So now I need a quote about Tribbles. But despite the large index ‘tribbles’ is not actually in it. I’ll try to look something up according to the Episode names.
And as far as I can tell, the episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles” doesn’t have a listing at all.
Well, what can I say about this book? It does what it says on the tin. It has lots of Star Trek quotes from the original series to Voyager.
Of course, if you want to find all the quotes about say ‘Tricorders’ it will do you no good. It’s got a much more philosophical bent. But I can’t judge it for what it isn’t.
I’ll give it 3 stars and keep it around for research purposes.
The Star Trek writing project I’m doing though has caused me to look for Star Trek jokes. I can’t believe that there isn’t a Star Trek joke book but I couldn’t find one. This is the closest I’ve found so I’m going to try to mine it for jokes.
Wow. Nothing about the quotes so far has made me want to see the Star Trek series that I have missed!
Apparently Star Trek turned into a romance sitcom when I wasn’t looking.
There’s a Samuel T. Cogley quote in there. If you ever get a chance the book “The Case of the Colonist's Corpse: A Sam Cogley Mystery” is a really fun read. I’d love to see a series. I think mysteries in the Star Trek universe could be a lot of fun. I’m thinking back to the “Stainless Steel Rat” books I used to love.
Now I’ll admit I never watched enough TNG to know where this particular quote is from (first one on page 164) but this is the thing that always drove me crazy about that show and one of the reasons I stopped watching it!
“Now I have sworn to uphold it [the Prime Directive], but nevertheless I have disregarded that directive on more than one occasion…because I thought it was the right thing to do.”
If you feel that way, you’re an idiot and don’t understand the Prime Directive at all!
There is no way the Prime Directive every COULD, SHOULD or WOULD interfere with the ‘right thing to do’!!!
And I suspect the writer’s of TNG, VOY ENT and DS9 never really did get it…
“How many times have we been in the position of refusing to interfere when some kind of disaster threatened an alien culture?”
WTHOLYF?! That’s what the writer’s on Voyager thought the prime directive meant?!? Really? Would Spock say that was logical? Would Kirk not help an alien culture in a DISASTER!??! If that was the case the entire galaxy would be at war with the Federation because the Federation are dicks!?!
The Prime Directive merely means to not exploit a pre-warp culture and don’t let anyone else exploit a pre-warp culture! Really, it’s pretty simple!!
Ugh. I didn’t watch a lot of the TNG and onward shows but it sure seems like they liked to hook people together a lot. That most often seems like lazy writing to me.
I wanted to read this book because I often use Star Trek quotes in writing about Star Trek. So now I need a quote about Tribbles. But despite the large index ‘tribbles’ is not actually in it. I’ll try to look something up according to the Episode names.
And as far as I can tell, the episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles” doesn’t have a listing at all.
Well, what can I say about this book? It does what it says on the tin. It has lots of Star Trek quotes from the original series to Voyager.
Of course, if you want to find all the quotes about say ‘Tricorders’ it will do you no good. It’s got a much more philosophical bent. But I can’t judge it for what it isn’t.
I’ll give it 3 stars and keep it around for research purposes.
October 19, 2025
I know this book is probably not meant to be read front to back continuously, but that’s what I did so I could log it. The experience wasn’t great. There are really good quotes, but having an abundance here out of context makes them all just feel redundant collected here, making me wonder what the point is. And multiple “Shut up Wesley” quotes? Are you kidding me? That bit hasn’t aged well.
August 3, 2022
Great book, but really needs to be updated since it was published over 20 years ago. Enterprise isn't even listed.
March 22, 2013
“Quotable Star Trek” by Jill Sherwin is an interesting reference book that should appeal to many fans of Star Trek. It is basically a collection of quotes taken from various Trek TV shows and movies produced over the years.
The book quite simply details some of the wonderful words of wisdom, thought and hope that have been present within the Star Trek universe from the beginning. Reading over this collection of dialogue really did highlight some of the subtle and not so subtle ways in which the various writers tried to portray the message of having hope in our future and ourselves as a species. It was enjoyable seeing some of these truly memorable quotes contained and I also appreciated the way it helped me remember some that I had actually forgotten.
As this is a form of reference book I wouldn’t say this is something you just want to read from start to finish. It is a book that you should just pick out a section and immerse yourself in it for a while or read some interesting quotes out to anyone who may want to listen. Sherwin has assisted in trying to allow the reader to do this by splitting the quotes into various chapters dedicated to elements such as love, religion, war and freedom. Therefore you can pick and choose which chapters to read depending on how you feel.
Whilst some of these quotes do work wonderfully when read standalone a fair amount of them are enhanced by an understanding of the scenes in which they were set. Sherwin does try to assist the reader by including commentary with some of the quotes but I still think that it is only going to be fans that have seen the specific scenes who will really appreciate the quotes utilised.
In summary as someone who fondly remembers hearing some of the dialogue used throughout Star Trek I found reading this collection to be an enjoyable experience that helped to refresh my memory. It really something that only a Star Trek fan is going to appreciate although I do think I may enjoy reading some of the more profound quotes out to my wife to show her that Star Trek isn’t as geeky as she likes to pretend.
Finally, I just want to note that as this book was originally written in 1999 there is nothing from the Star Trek universes created since then such as the “Enterprise” TV series or the JJ Abrams movie.
The book quite simply details some of the wonderful words of wisdom, thought and hope that have been present within the Star Trek universe from the beginning. Reading over this collection of dialogue really did highlight some of the subtle and not so subtle ways in which the various writers tried to portray the message of having hope in our future and ourselves as a species. It was enjoyable seeing some of these truly memorable quotes contained and I also appreciated the way it helped me remember some that I had actually forgotten.
As this is a form of reference book I wouldn’t say this is something you just want to read from start to finish. It is a book that you should just pick out a section and immerse yourself in it for a while or read some interesting quotes out to anyone who may want to listen. Sherwin has assisted in trying to allow the reader to do this by splitting the quotes into various chapters dedicated to elements such as love, religion, war and freedom. Therefore you can pick and choose which chapters to read depending on how you feel.
Whilst some of these quotes do work wonderfully when read standalone a fair amount of them are enhanced by an understanding of the scenes in which they were set. Sherwin does try to assist the reader by including commentary with some of the quotes but I still think that it is only going to be fans that have seen the specific scenes who will really appreciate the quotes utilised.
In summary as someone who fondly remembers hearing some of the dialogue used throughout Star Trek I found reading this collection to be an enjoyable experience that helped to refresh my memory. It really something that only a Star Trek fan is going to appreciate although I do think I may enjoy reading some of the more profound quotes out to my wife to show her that Star Trek isn’t as geeky as she likes to pretend.
Finally, I just want to note that as this book was originally written in 1999 there is nothing from the Star Trek universes created since then such as the “Enterprise” TV series or the JJ Abrams movie.
August 23, 2011
Look...I love celebrating the dialogue of "Star Trek" as much as anyone. Fans will quote it to each other, and I'll even use lines from various "Trek" episodes for both comic (BRAIN AND BRAIN, WHAT IS BRAIN?!?) and profound effect, from casual conversation to lectures. In spite of that, a part of me can't help thinking there's something...unsatisfying...even superfluous...about such a book. I'd also be a bit more generous with the star rating if the book wasn't such a product of bland design & publication.
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April 11, 2010I won this as one of the top 10 scorers (10th, I believe) in the Star Trek Club's "Quotes Contest" in 1999. It came with a signed letter from editor Marco Palmieri on Pocket Books letterhead. Sadly, I made up a name to enter the contest, so it's addressed to... not me. :)
February 9, 2009
something to fit every situation
April 28, 2011
Another quotation book about/from Star Trek. Of course, I loved it.
June 2, 2012
Star trek always has good advice.
January 15, 2013
A must have book for the Star Trek Fan who follows the whole series rather religiously. However the book needs to be updated.
May 10, 2013
A delightful look at all the great Star Trek lines
July 2, 2014
Unfortunately was published in 1999, so doesn't include the last 2 seasons of Voyager.
June 30, 2016
I actually use this book all the time and I can’t remember when I bought it. I am that kind of geek.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews