- Lakanta: What do you think is sacred to us here?
- Wesley Crusher: Maybe the necklace you're wearing? The designs on the walls?
- Lakanta: Everything is sacred to us - the buildings, the food, the sky, the dirt beneath your feet - and you. Whether you believe in your spirit or not, we believe in it. You are a sacred person here, Wesley.
- Wesley Crusher: I think that's the first time anyone's used that particular word to describe me.
- Anthwara: It is always good to understand one's adversary, in any negotiation.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I hope that by the end of this matter, you will no longer look on me as an adversary.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Anthwara believes that I am responsible for the crimes of one of my ancestors against his people.
- Commander William T. Riker: Do you believe that?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No, of course not. I respect his belief; but I do not see how it can have any bearing on this mission. But even so, I can't help wondering... if a... dark chapter in my family's history is about to be repeated.
- [Picard and Anthwara are talking about the latter's grandfather's emigration from Earth]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: It's never easy to leave one's home - the safe and the familiar. But there are times when... the greater good demands that certain... sacrifices are made. I'm sure that was something that your grandfather understood.
- Anthwara: So does his grandson. There are also times when a people sacrificed too much. When a people must hold on to what we have, even against overwhelming opposition.
- Lakanta: You must treat yourself with respect. To do otherwise is to desecrate something that is holy.
- Wesley Crusher: Is that what you think I've been doing?
- Lakanta: Only you can decide that.
- Wesley Crusher: I guess I haven't had a lot of respect for myself lately.
- Lakanta: Then perhaps it's time for your own vision quest to begin.
- Wesley Crusher: What are those figures?
- Lakanta: They're mansara - dolls that represent the different spirits that've come to this place.
- Wesley Crusher: That one looks like a Klingon.
- Lakanta: Yes. Our culture is rooted in the past, but it's not limited to the past. Spirits of the Klingon, the Vulcan and Ferengi... come to us just as the bear and the coyote, the parrot... There's no difference.
- [Gul Evek has relented in the conflict of interest with the Federation and avoided a war]
- Gul Evek: I lost... two of three sons in the war, Captain. I don't want to lose the last one.
- [Picard has arranged for snacks for Admiral Nechayev]
- Commander William T. Riker: Earl Grey tea, watercress sandwiches... and Bularian canapés? Are you up for promotion?
- Wesley Crusher: What should I do?
- Lakanta: Start the fire. Then sit and wait.
- Wesley Crusher: What am I waiting for?
- Lakanta: This is your journey, Wesley. I can open the door; but only you can go through it.
- [Wesley has a vision of his father]
- Jack Crusher: You've reached the end, Wesley.
- Wesley Crusher: The end of what?
- Jack Crusher: This journey - one you started a long time ago. When I left you and your mother.
- Wesley Crusher: You mean when you died.
- Jack Crusher: You set out on a journey that wasn't your own. Now it's time to find a path that is truly yours. Don't follow me any further.
- Wesley Crusher: I don't understand.
- Jack Crusher: Yes, you do. It's just hard for you to accept. Goodbye, Wesley, and good luck.
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: [Wesley has quit Starfleet Academy] I may not be able to stop you from throwing your entire life away, but you are going to stand here and explain it to me first. You owe me that much.
- Wesley Crusher: I know Admiral Nechayev gave you an order and she was given an order from the Federation Council. But it's still wrong.
- Anthwara: [referring to Dorvan V] It has taken us two centuries to find this place. We do not want to spend another two hundred years searching for what we already have.