Star Trek (TV Series)

Court Martial (1967)

William Shatner: Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk

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Quotes 

• Cogley : Books, young man, books. Thousands of them. If time wasn't so important, I'd show you something. My library. Thousands of books.

  Captain James T. Kirk : And what would be the point?

  Cogley : This is where the law is, not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized... . Do you want to know the law, the ancient concepts in their own language, learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from Moses to the tribunal of Alpha 3? Books.

  Captain James T. Kirk : You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper, or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney at law.

  Cogley : You're right on both counts. Need a lawyer?

  Captain James T. Kirk : I'm afraid so.

• [Kirk has been accused of perjury] 

  Captain James T. Kirk : I'm telling you, I was there, on the bridge. I know what happened. I know what I did.

  Portmaster Stone : It's in the transcript! And computer transcripts don't lie! Now, I'm telling you, Captain, either you accept a permanent ground assignment, or... the whole disciplinary weight of Starfleet Command is going to light right on your neck.

  Captain James T. Kirk : So that's the way we do it now? Sweep it under the rug, and me along with it? Not on your life. I intend to fight!

  Portmaster Stone : Then you draw a general court!

  Captain James T. Kirk : [vehemently]  Draw it? I demand it, and right now, Commodore Stone, right now!

• Captain James T. Kirk : Areel. You still haven't told me how you know so much about what the prosecution's going to do.

  Areel Shaw : Because, Jim Kirk, my dear old love... I am the prosecution. And I have to do my very best to have you slapped down hard. Broken out of the service. In disgrace.

• Captain James T. Kirk : [finding his assigned quarters congested]  What is all this?

  Cogley : I figure we'll be spendin' some time together, so I moved in.

  Captain James T. Kirk : [sarcastically, as he looks about at the piles of books around the room]  I hope I'm not crowding you.

  Cogley : What's the matter? Don't you like books?

  Captain James T. Kirk : Oh, I like them fine. But a computer takes less space.

• Areel Shaw : [as all observe the viewing screen]  If the court will notice, the log plainly shows the defendant's finger pressing the jettison button. The condition signal reads yellow alert. Not red alert, but simply yellow alert. When the pod containing Lt. Commander Finney was jettisoned, the emergency did not as yet exist.

  Captain James T. Kirk : But that's not the way it happened.

• Captain James T. Kirk : It's been... How long has it been?

  Areel Shaw : Four years, seven months and an odd number of days. Not that I'm counting.

• Areel Shaw : Do you think it would cause a complete breakdown of discipline, if a lowly lieutenant kissed a starship captain on the bridge of his ship?

  Captain James T. Kirk : Let's try.

  [they kiss] 

  Captain James T. Kirk : See, no change. Discipline goes on.

• Cogley : You did the right thing, but... would you do it again?

  Captain James T. Kirk : Given the same circumstances, I would do the same thing without hesitation. Because the steps I took, in the order I took them, were absolutely necessary, if I were to save my ship. And *nothing* is more important than my ship.

• Portmaster Stone : Now, look, Jim. Not one man in a million could do what you and I have done. Command a starship. A hundred decisions a day, hundreds of lives, staked on you making every one of them right. You're played out, Jim. Exhausted.

  Captain James T. Kirk : Is that the way you see it?

  Portmaster Stone : That's the way my report will read if you co-operate.

  Captain James T. Kirk : A physical breakdown, possibly even mental collapse.

  Portmaster Stone : Possibly.

  Captain James T. Kirk : I'd be admitting that a man died because...

  Portmaster Stone : Admit nothing. Say nothing. Let me bury the matter here and now. No starship captain has ever stood trial before, and I don't want you to be the first.

• Captain James T. Kirk : It's not all bad, Mr. Spock. Who knows, you may be able to beat your next captain at chess.

• [Kirk is giving an account of the events on the bridge that ultimately led to Finney's death] 

  Portmaster Stone : Then why, Captain, does the computer log from your ship, made automatically at the time, indicate that you were still on yellow alert when you jettisoned, and not on red?

  Captain James T. Kirk : I don't know. There's been a mistake.

  Portmaster Stone : It would seem so. Could the computer be wrong?

  Captain James T. Kirk : Mr. Spock is running a survey right now; but the odds are next to impossible.

• Areel Shaw : How long will it be this time before I see you again?

  Captain James T. Kirk : At the risk of sounding like a mystic, that depends on the stars.

• Captain James T. Kirk : Put the phaser down, Ben.

  Finney : Oh, I wouldn't kill you, Captain. Your own death would mean too little to you. But your ship...

  Captain James T. Kirk : What about my ship?

  Finney : It's dead. I've killed it.

• Captain James T. Kirk : Goodbye, Areel. Better luck next time.

  Areel Shaw : I had pretty good luck this time. I lost, didn't I?