Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is famed for his ability to deliver a moving speech on Star Trek: The Next Generation and that trend continued in Star Trek: Picard. Trained as a Shakespearian actor, it should come as no surprise that Sir Patrick Stewart delivered Picard's speeches with such gravitas. These speeches not only provided advice and inspiration to the characters in the show but have also come to mean a great deal to many fans. Captain Picard's skills in diplomacy and his ability to persuade people and defuse tense situations were often enhanced with a well-delivered monologue.
Captain Picard delivered a lot of memorable lines and dialogue throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation but nothing could compare to when he delivered a particularly ionate speech. Picard almost always turned to words as his first response when dealing with a conflict, and while his enemies did not always listen, it was irable that Picard saw violence as a last resort. Many of Picard's speeches throughout TNG and Star Trek: Picard could even be applied to real-world situations, not only from the time when the show first aired but today as well. Here are 10 of Captain Picard's best speeches from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the TNG movies, and Star Trek: Picard.
10 Star Trek: TNG Season 3 - "Ménage a Troi"
In the only comedic example on this list, Patrick Stewart proves that he can deliver a funny speech on Star Trek: The Next Generation just as effectively as a serious one. To rescue Counselor Deanna Troi's (Marina Sirtis) mother, Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) from a Ferengi, Picard must convince the Ferengi that Lwaxana is not worth the trouble. In a scene just as ridiculous as the rest of the episode, Picard throws together a bunch of lines from Shakespearean sonnets into his faux declaration of love for Lwaxana. Ridiculousness aside, Picard (and Stewart) are clearly having fun with this speech and the USS Enterprise-D's reactions to it are priceless.
9 Star Trek: TNG Season 5 - "A Matter of Time"
When Professor Berlinghoff Rasmussen (Matt Frewer) shows up on the USS Enterprise-D claiming to be a traveler from the 26th century, Captain Picard and his crew question his motives. Rasmussen claims that he cannot tell them what choices they should or shouldn't make because it will change the future. As Picard grows frustrated with Berlinghoff's refusal to help the millions of people on the planet below, he claims that Picard is trying to manipulate the future. This prompts Picard to point out that every choice a person makes gives them a chance to manipulate the future. As he says, "A person's life, their future, hinges on each of a thousand choices. Living is making choices." Star Trek has always been a celebration of free will and the freedom everyone should have to make their own choices.
8 Star Trek: TNG Season 3 - "Who Watches the Watchers"
When a primitive civilization discovers Federation technology and personnel, they believe them to be gods. Picard and his crew must convince the locals that they are not gods, but simply a more advanced people. When discussing how to proceed, a Federation doctor who had been studying the civilization suggests that Picard and the Enterprise could masquerade as gods and lead the civilization in a particular direction. Picard will not hear of it, saying: "Now you are asking me to sabotage that achievement, to send them back into the Dark Ages of superstition and ignorance and fear? No!" He points out that while they have technically already violated the Prime Directive, this would be taking things way too far.
7 Star Trek: TNG Season 3 - "Yesterday's Enterprise"
In a speech that is short and to the point, Picard delivers some of the most famous lines of Star Trek. The TNG season 3 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" finds the Enterprise-D in a very different timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingons. When a heavily damaged Enterprise-C appears from the past, the Enterprise-D must help it go back in time in order to restore the proper timeline. In a bittersweet and powerful moment, knowing that he is sending the Enterprise-C back to be destroyed, Picard delivers the iconic line: "Let's make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise."
6 Star Trek: TNG Season 3 - "The Offspring"
In TNG's "The Offspring," the Enterprise's android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) creates an android daughter named Lal (Hallie Todd). When Starfleet wants to take Lal away from Data, Captain Picard protests, at the possible expense of his career. Though the lines Jean-Luc delivers at this moment are brief, they underline another important element of being a great Starfleet captain. Picard says that "There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders." While the rules and regulations of Starfleet are undoubtedly important, sometimes orders and rules must be questioned in order to make progress.
5 Star Trek: Picard Season 3 - "The Last Generation"
Captain Picard has always had a fondness for the words of William Shakespeare, so it feels fitting that his speech in the finale of Star Trek: Picard would be a quote from the Bard. Patrick Stewart himself is an accomplished Shakespearean actor, so it is a fitting end for his (potentially) final performance as Picard as well. The lines Picard quotes are from Julius Caesar and speak about the ups and downs of life and the choices people make along the way. Picard's "There is a tide..." speech serves as a nice closing monologue for Star Trek: The Next Generation's saga.
4 Star Trek: TNG Season 5 - "The First Duty"
After Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) lies about an incident at Starfleet Academy that resulted in a cadet's death, Captain Picard gives him a dressing down for the ages. Picard rarely raises his voice, but it is apparent that he is mad (and disappointed) at Cadet Crusher. In speaking about the importance of truth, Picard lays out an important truth himself: "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based." In the end, Picard knows that Wesley will do the right thing, but he may need some encouragement to get there.
3 Star Trek: TNG Season 4 - "The Drumhead"
The TNG season 4 episode, "The Drumhead," has no shortage of ionate speeches. Captain Picard's speech comes toward the end of the episode when he is questioned about his experience with the Borg and the loyalty of his crew is called into question. Picard borrowed the following lines from an in-universe judge, but they encapsulate the central theme of this episode: "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Picard will always stand up for what he believes in and encourages others to do so as well.
2 Star Trek: First
Captain Picard rarely gets truly angry. He may be frustrated or disappointed or even annoyed, but rarely angry. This scene in the film Star Trek: First is perhaps the angriest viewers have ever seen Picard. Raging at the Borg, Picard tells Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard): "They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!" And I will make them pay for what they've done." Picard's Star Trek: First speech is one of his most powerful, and perhaps his best-known dialogue from the TNG movies.
1 Star Trek: TNG Season 2 - "The Measure of a Man"
One of the most powerful speeches in all of Star Trek, Picard's courtroom defense of Data's right to self-determination exemplifies everything that Star Trek stands for. Coming early in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, "The Measure of a Man" solidified Picard's ability to solve problems and avoid conflicts with his words. Picard ends this particular speech with this line: "Starfleet was founded to seek out new life: well, there it sits! Waiting." This line not only defines the role of Starfleet but also the central theme of Star Trek as a whole. Star Trek has always been about seeking out new life and exploring new worlds, and that means celebrating what makes people different, not condemning them for it. Captain Picard's actions and words in this episode cement him as one of the greatest Starfleet Captains.