The 10 Best James T. Kirk Quotes In Star Trek History

Though Star Trek: The Original Series was first envisioned to have Christopher Pike captaining the USS Enterprise, it was his successor, James T. Kirk, who ended up being the TV show’s lead. For three seasons, William Shatner’s character guided the starship’s crew through many missions and combated various threats. Those episodes, and the seven movies Shatner starred in afterward, cemented Kirk as one of the most cherished Star Trek protagonists.

Other portrayals of Kirk followed after Shatner’s final appearance as him in 1994’s Star Trek Generations. Chris Pine starred as a younger version of the character in the Kelvin timeline-set Star Trek movies, then Paul Wesley was cast to play the younger version of the Prime Timeline’s Kirk in Paramount+’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. These newer depictions have expanded the character’s fanbase and provided more contributions from him to the list of best Star Trek moments.

There’s a lot to appreciate about Kirk, from his courage and action-focused command style, to his charming personality and outside-the-box thinking. The man also knows how to turn a phrase, regardless of the era or timeline. Kirk has dropped a lot of memorable quotes across the 60 years of Star Trek movies and TV shows, and 10 in particular stand out as the greatest.

10

“Now you can let death win, or you can fight back.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (“Lost In Translation”)

Everett

In “Lost In Translation,” Wesley’s Kirk helped Uhura as she saw horrific hallucinations of her deceased parents and Hemmer. With the phenomenon affecting other crew members and endangering the Enterprise, Kirk acknowledged that their job puts them “against death more than is fair,” but it was important for her to hold onto the memories of her deceased loved ones and confront her grief rather than shrink from it. These encouraging words helped Uhura figure out that the hallucinations were actually messages from the aliens being killed by the deuterium refinery.

9

“What does God need with a starship?”

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Everett

Though Star Trek V: The Final Frontier isn’t one of the more popular Star Trek movies, it did deliver one of Kirk’s most astute observations. When the Enterprise found what Sybok thought to be God at the center of the galaxy, Kirk questioned why an all-powerful deity would need the Enterprise to spread its “wisdom.” It’s a good thing he asked this question, as “God” actually turned out to be an imprisoned entity that needed the Enterprise to escape Sha Ra Kee.

8

“Where I come from, size, shape, or color makes no difference, and nobody has the power.”

Star Trek: The Original Series (“Plato’s Stepchildren”)

Paramount Television

“Plato’s Stepchildren” is best known for the scene where Kirk and Uhura kiss, which was the first scripted kiss between a Black person and a white person on American television. However, it’s also memorable for the above statement that Kirk tells Alexander, a Platonian slave who lacked the telekinetic abilities the rest of his kind had. Not only do Kirk’s words inspire Alexander to leave Platonius, they also remind viewers about how much humanity has progressed in Star Trek’s future, and how that progress is worth striving for in real life.

7

“Better to die saving lives… than to live with taking them. That’s what I was born into.”

Star Trek Beyond

Everett

In Star Trek Beyond, Pine’s final appearance as Kirk, the Enterprise crew was left stranded on the planet Altamid after their ship was destroyed by Krall. The villain, later revealed as Captain Balthazar M. Edison, intended to use an ancient bioweapon to kill everyone on Yorktown, then use the space station to attack the United Federation of Planets. He was certain that Kirk and his allies couldn’t stop him, but Pine’s words exemplified what made them different, and this attitude led to Krall being defeated and Yorktown’s inhabitants being saved.

6

“Don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you’re there… you can make a difference.”

Star Trek Generations

Paramount Pictures

When Jean-Luc Picard discovered that Kirk was still alive in the Nexus during Star Trek Generations, he requested that his predecessor leave this wish fulfillment realm with him to stop Soran. Before agreeing to this, Kirk urged Picard to never retire from Starfleet, get transferred to another ship, or accept a promotion. Just like he’d done nearly a century earlier, Kirk was certain that Picard continuing to captain the Enterprise would be the best way for him to do the most good.

5

“Without freedom of choice there is no creativity. The body dies.”

Star Trek: The Original Series (“Return Of The Archons”)

Paramount Television

“Return Of The Archons” saw the Enterprise crew visiting the planet Beta III, where the majority of its inhabitants were kept mentally stripped of their free will, resulting in them either being docile or violent and lustful during specific periods. A supercomputer called Landru, named after its programmer who sought to bring peace to the planet, was responsible for this control. Understanding what happens when you take free will away from an intelligent life form, Kirk, with Spock’s help, successfully persuaded the supercomputer to relinquish this control and shut down.

4

“Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.”

Star Trek: The Original Series (“Return To Tomorrow”)

Paramount Television

Few quotes summarize the essence of Star Trek than what Kirk said in “Return to Tomorrow.” In the episode, the last members of a telepathic extraterrestrial species requested to take control of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Ann Mulhall’s bodies so they could build android bodies for themselves. It was a big ask, but the speech Kirk gave about risk convinced Spock and Mulhall, as well as Dr. McCoy and Scotty, that this was the right course of action, though complications inevitably surfaced.

3

“Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.”

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Paramount Pictures

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan gave Kirk some great quotes, including “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario” when reflecting upon how he reprogrammed the Kobayashi Maru test, and powerfully yelling “KHAN!” when the title antagonist threatened him. However, he gave his most touching words at Spock’s space burial service. Though the (temporarily) late Vulcan’s emotionless and logical demeanor was ever present, Kirk made sure that those in attendance knew that, from his perspective, it was his friend’s human side that shined brightest.

2

“Leave any bigotry in your quarters, there’s no room for it on the bridge.”

Star Trek: The Original Series (“Balance Of Terror”)

Paramount Television

“Balance of Terror,” one of The Original Series‘ best episodes, introduced Romulans to the Star Trek mythology. However, up to that point, no one from the Federation had seen what they looked like. Once it was discovered that the Romulans resembled Vulcans, Lieutenant Stiles, who lost ancestors during the Earth-Romulan War a century earlier, questioned Spock’s allegiances with an offhand comment. Kirk immediately made it clear to the navigator that he wouldn’t accept any racism in his presence, simultaneously defending Spock and expressing his distaste towards intolerance.

1

“Space, the final frontier…”

Star Trek: The Original Series (Opening Narration)

At the beginning of every Star Trek: The Original Series episode, Shatner’s Kirk succinctly laid out the show’s premise with the “Space, the final frontier…” narration. The Enterprise’s five-year mission was to “explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilization, to boldy go where no man has gone before.” A tweaked version of this speech was later used for The Next Generation, Strange New Worlds, and the Kelvin timeline movies, and the final words being frequently quoted outside the franchise demonstrate Star Trek’s influence on pop culture.

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

Created by

Gene Roddenberry