- Counselor Deanna Troi: Have you ever heard Data define friendship?
- Commander William T. Riker: No.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: How did he put it? "As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated and even missed when absent."
- Commander William T. Riker: It's just that our mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns.
- Lt. Commander Data: Hm. I understand. I am also fond of you, Commander. And you as well, Counselor.
- [Data has not been included in the away team]
- Lt. Commander Data: Sir, it is standard procedure that the Second Officer accompany the away team.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, yes, Mr. Data, I'm aware of that.
- Lt. Commander Data: Then I must assume your decision is related to the discovery on Earth.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I think it is reasonable to take precautions.
- Lt. Commander Data: Captain, there is no rational justification for this course.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Then I'll be irrational!
- Guinan: Do you remember the first time we met?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Of course.
- Guinan: Don't be so sure. I just mean, if you don't go on this mission - we'll *never* meet.
- Lt. Commander Data: I have often wondered about my own mortality, as I have seen others around me age. Until now, it has been theoretically possible that I would live an unlimited period of time. And although some might find this attractive, to me it only reinforces the fact that I am... artificial.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: I never knew how tough this must be for you.
- Lt. Commander Data: Tough? As in difficult?
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Knowing that you would outlive all your friends.
- Lt. Commander Data: I expected to make new friends.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: True.
- Lt. Commander Data: And then to outlive them as well.
- Doorman: Sir, unless you leave this house immediately, I will send for the police.
- Lt. Commander Data: That is an excellent idea. I will wait for them in there.
- Joe Falling Hawk: [seeing Data for the first time] Paleface!
- Seaman: Well, I don't like Easterners, personally.
- Lt. Commander Data: I am a Frenchman.
- Lt. Commander Data: It provides a sense of completion to my future. In a way, I am not that different from anyone else. I can now look forward to death.
- Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge: Never thought of it that way.
- Lt. Commander Data: One might also conclude that it brings me one step closer to being human. I am mortal.
- Samuel Clemens: According to our best geologic estimate, the Earth is approximately 100 million years of age. Perhaps it is less, perhaps more.
- Guinan: Perhaps a great deal more.
- Samuel Clemens: Indeed. But regardless, it is ancient, in the extreme. Now, geology also tells us that man himself has existed but for a microscopic fraction of those years. Hm... hmhmhm... Curious, isn't it? That the world got by for such a great, long while, with no humans around to fill up space. I suppose Mr. Wallace and his supporters would say that the Earth needed all that time to prepare itself for our illustrious arrival. Why... the oyster alone probably required 15 million years to get it to come out just right.
- Guinan: But if the Earth is not alone and there are millions of inhabited planets in the heavens...
- Samuel Clemens: Quite my point. Man becomes a trivial creation, does he not? Lost in the vastness of the cosmic prairie, adrift on the deep ocean of time. A single one amongst... huh... countless others.
- Guinan: Some may argue that a diamond is still a diamond, even if it is one amongst millions. It still shines as brightly.
- Samuel Clemens: Someone might say that, dear lady, if someone thought that the human race was akin to a precious jewel. But this, er... increasingly hypothetical someone... would not be me.
- Samuel Clemens: [to Data and Guinan] Eavesdropping is by no means a proper activity for a gentleman. Nevertheless, the deed is done!
- Lt. Commander Data: It seems clear that my life is to end in the late 19th century.
- Commander William T. Riker: Not if we can help it.
- Lt. Commander Data: There is no way anyone can prevent it, sir. At some future date, I will be transported back to 19th-century Earth, where I will die. It has occurred. It will occur.
- Jack London: Looks like the missus booted you out in the middle of the night.
- Lt. Commander Data: [looks down on his uniform] Ah. I understand the source of your misperception. However, this is not sleepwear, and I do not have a missus.
- Jack London: [still looking skeptical] Well...
- Lt. Commander Data: I am a Frenchman.
- Jack London: Oh. Well, everybody's from somewhere. Now, that doesn't matter at this hotel. It's six bits a day, or four dollars a week.
- Lt. Commander Data: I have no money.
- Jack London: Well, now, that matters!
- Jack London: Isn't that what makes America great?
- Lt. Commander Data: To what are you referring?
- Jack London: Well, a man rides into town in his pajamas, wins a grub stake at a poker table, turns it into a horseless carriage and makes a million bucks. That's America!
- Lt. Commander Data: I believe I have given you an erroneous impression.
- Lt. Commander Data: It is possible, sir, that the events leading to my death will not occur for years, even centuries.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I hope that's true, Mr. Data. Nevertheless, this investigation began with your death. I'm simply trying to see that it doesn't end that way.
- Lt. Commander Data: I appreciate your concern, Captain. But, to employ an aphorism, one cannot cheat fate.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "Cheat fate"?
- [ponders over this]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Perhaps we can't, Mr. Data. But at least we can give it a try.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: There's life here... A child, an old woman... Dozens more, hundreds. Terrified.
- Commander William T. Riker: Terrified?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: My God, Will, they're Human.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Can you predict how long this has been in the cavern?
- Lt. Commander Data: Decomposition strongly indicates that life was terminated approximately five hundred years ago. That would be consistent with the other artifacts we recovered.
- Commander William T. Riker: Your head is not an "artifact"!
- Beggar: [to Data, believing him to be a fellow beggar, gives him some tips on how to hit people up for money] Stockbrokers are as cheap as hell - don't even ask 'em. Best handout is a young man with his lady. You give him a chance to impress her by bein' generous. But stay clear of the sailors - likely as not, you'll get a fist across the jaw for your trouble.
- Lt. Commander Data: I have no need for companionship. However, I do require some supplies.
- Jack London: Anything you need, I can get it for you wholesale. I can get if for you less than wholesale if, uh, you don't ask me where it came from.
- [Data has met with 19th-century Guinan]
- Guinan: Did my father send you here? Because if he did, you must go back and tell him I'm not done listening to...
- Counselor Deanna Troi: I heard about Data.
- Commander William T. Riker: Yeah.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: It's having an unusually traumatic effect on everyone.
- Commander William T. Riker: Yeah.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay.
- Commander William T. Riker: I'm fine. Just...
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Angry.
- Commander William T. Riker: I'm not angry... Yeah, I'm angry.
- Lt. Commander Data: I am trying to find two individuals with a snake.
- Beggar: [mistaking him for another beggar] A snake? You are an odd feller, aren't you? But just don't be too particular where you get your funds from.
- Lieutenant Worf: If we find Commander Data, it may be our fate to die with him in the past. If our remains *are* in that cavern, they would have turned to dust long ago.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I haven't seen such a complex operation since the Academy lab final in exochemistry.
- [Data is wandering around San Francisco, California, Earth in 1893. He sees an elderly beggar]
- Beggar: Could you help out a forty niner? I fell down the shaft. I got blown over in th' tunnel.
- Lt. Commander Data: That is unfortunate.
- Beggar: It is most unfortunate. I require large amounts of whiskey, as a lineament.
- Lt. Commander Data: I am sorry, but I do not have any whiskey to give you.
- Beggar: I'll take a dime.
- Lt. Commander Data: I am sorry but I do not have any legal tender.
- Beggar: [understanding] Oh, we're on the same boat huh?
- [as they walk down the sidewalk]
- Beggar: This is my street. You better go find on of your own
- Lt. Commander Data: I would be happy to do so, but I am presently in search of information.
- Beggar: [thinking Data is looking for people who will give him money] Stockbrokers are cheap as hell. Don't even bother to ask. Your best handout is a young fella, with his lady. You give him a chance to show her he's generous. Steer clear of sailors! Most likely, you'll get a fist 'cross the jaw for your trouble.
- Lt. Commander Data: Thank you for your advice, but I am trying to find two individuals with a snake.
- Beggar: [gives Data a look] A snake? You are an odd fella, aren't you? Just don't be too particular where you get your funds from.
- Guinan: Do I know you, Mister...?
- Lt. Commander Data: Data. Yes. We were on a ship together.
- Guinan: I do so much traveling. What ship would that be?
- Lt. Commander Data: The Enterprise.
- Guinan: Is that a clipper ship?
- Lt. Commander Data: It is a starship.
- Samuel Clemens: Starship?
- [last lines]
- Commander William T. Riker: My god. They're delivering more of them for the others to ingest.
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Look at what he's carrying.