It can be from any element, movie, TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, even Enterprise or the animated version.
I have dozens, but for starters, my favorite Garak quote is the one he says after Bashir tells him the fable of the boy who cried wolf, and tries to explain to him that if one tells lies all the time he won’t be believed, even if he tells the truth. Garak asks him if he’s sure that’s the moral. Bashir is puzzled, asking what else it could be.
“Never tell the same lie twice,” Garak says, walking out of the infirmary.
To me, that is quintessential Garak. It sums him up very neatly.
I recently watched every episode of DS9 in order, and the more I watched, the funnier it got. Here are a couple of real gems:
Dukat: “The man is a heartless, cold-blooded killer.”
Kira: “Like I said, he’s a Cardassian.”
-Dukat and Major Kira on Garak, “In Purgatory’s Shadow”
O’Brien: “What are you telling me, my baby’s just sad?”
Bashir: “Perhaps he’s become prematurely aware of life’s existential isolation.”
O’Brien: “You’re sure it’s not a rash?”
Bashir: “Look on the bright side: he’ll probably be a great poet.”
-O’Brien and Bashir on the infant Kirayoshi, and apparently I didn’t record what episode this one was from. my bad.
As for TOS:
Spock: “The child was named Leonard James Akaar?”
Kirk: “Yes, Spock, what do you think?”
Spock: “I think you shall both be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month.”
-“Friday’s Child”
Sweet muffins, there are so many more. I don’t have my copy of Jill Sherwin’s The Quotable Star Trek on me now or else I’d have to list at least 3 dozen, no exaggeration.
Zinda! His face black, his eyes red! - Darmok, TNG
Clones don’t eat, Miss Chappel. - Clone of Kirk, TOS
Khan, I’m laughing at the superior intellect. - Kirk, TWoK
Are you sure it isn’t time for a colorful metaphor? - Spock, TVH
We’ve made too many compromises already; too many retreats. 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, FC
You’re good at building things, I’m good at blowing them up. - Malcolm Reed, ENT
My underwear’s flame-retardant, but it doesn’t mean I want to set fire to myself to prove it. - Trip, ENT
Kirk: “Khan, you bloodsucker. You’re going to have to do your own dirty work now, do you hear me? DO YOU?”
Khan: “Kirk, you’re still alive, old friend.”
Kirk: “Still, ‘old friend.’ You’ve managed to kill everyone else but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target.”
Khan: “Perhaps I no longer need to try, admiral.”
(Genesis beams away)
Kirk: “Khan… Khan, you’ve got Genesis, but you don’t have me. You were going to kill me, Khan. You’re gonna have to come down here. You’re gonna have to come down here.”
Khan: "I’ve done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I’ve… hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her: marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet. Buried alive. Buried alive.
Kirk: “KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!”
Khan, the icing on that delicious cake that is your post is your location.
As one who truly appreciates the glory that is Star Trek, I bow to you in admiration.
