Star Trek: Voyager (TV Series)

Distant Origin (1997)

Robert Beltran: Cmdr. Chakotay

Quotes 

• Minister Odala : When I open my eyes to this theory, what I see appalls me. I see my race fleeing your wretched planet, a group of pathetic refugees, crawling and scratching their way across the galaxy, stumbling into this domain. I see a race with no birthright, no legacy. That is unacceptable!

  Commander Chakotay : I see something very different, Minister: an ancient race of saurians, probably the first intelligent life on Earth, surrounded by some of the most terrifying creatures that ever lived, and yet they thrived, developed language and culture and technology. And when the planet was threatened with disaster, they boldly launched themselves into space, crossed what must have seemed like unimaginable distances, facing the unknown every day, but somehow, they stayed together, kept going, with the same courage that had served them before, until they reached this quadrant. Where they laid the foundation of what was to become the great Voth culture. Deny that past, and you deny the struggle and achievements of your ancestors. Deny your origins on Earth, and you deny your true heritage.

• Gegen : [examining an Earth globe Chakotay has given him]  Someday, every Voth will see this as home.

  Commander Chakotay : Someday. Eyes open.

  Gegen : Eyes open.

• Commander Chakotay : You accuse Gegen of having his objectivity clouded by wishful thinking, but aren't you guilty of the same charge?

  Minister Odala : I am not on trial here.

  Commander Chakotay : I understand, but in a way your beliefs are. How you think about yourselves, your place in the universe - that IS on trial.

• Commander Chakotay : [on Minister Odala's claim the similarities between humans and Voth would be due to random convergence]  Voyager's database contains a complete fossil record of my planet. Your genetic markers appear not only in humans but in hundreds of species throughout our history. That's a lot of 'random convergence'. If you take a look at the data...

  Minister Odala : We have. The data isn't in question. Your interpretation is.

• Commander Chakotay : I know from the history of my own planet that change is difficult. New ideas are often greeted with skepticism, even fear, but sometimes those ideas are accepted, and when they are... progress is made. Eyes are opened.

• Commander Chakotay : [having been shot with a narcotic dart]  Do you always harpoon the local wildlife?