David Mack > Quotes

“You welcome your children into the world knowing that if all goes the way you plan, you won’t get to see the end of their story. It seems a sad notion until you realize that’s what gives you hope for the future.”
― David Mack, The Persistence of Memory

“Starship command is like comedy, Number One. Timing is everything.”
― David Mack, Destiny: The Complete Saga

“Drinkin’ two-fisted are ya?” “It’s all right, love—I’m a writer.”
― David Mack, Storming Heaven

“Don’t tell me,” Burnham cut in. “It’s fascinating.” Spock said nothing in response, but he could not help but appear mildly put out.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“Innocent people shouldn't be made to beg for their lives. The weak shouldn't have to kowtow to receive help, from us or anyone else.”
― David Mack, A Ceremony of Losses

“I read a report from Starfleet Command last year that said you’d met the Greek deity Apollo. I was just wondering . . . did that really happen?” Kirk glanced at someone off-screen, then his mouth curled upward with playful mischief. “I prefer to think that Apollo met me. . . . Enterprise out.”
― David Mack, Storming Heaven

“But until today, I’d thought I was Sarek’s greatest disappointment.” “Unlikely,” Spock said. “I am quite certain he has reserved that distinction for me.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“How can I be lonely when I hate people?”
― David Mack, The Persistence of Memory

“Pick up your feet, Mister Saru,” Burnham said as she and Gant headed to the turbolift. “Time, tide, and transporters wait for no one.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“sweating like a Risan socialator in a Bajoran temple”
― David Mack, Firewall

“Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives. But I’d rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment. Because they’ll never come again.”
― David Mack, Oblivion's Gate

“Perhaps I will not kill him in my sleep. At least, not tonight.”
― David Mack, The Midnight Front

“Politics is merely war by other means.
-an old Andorian saying”
― David Mack

“Never let what’s lawful stop you from doing what’s right.”
― David Mack, Firewall

“Societies depend on the good faith of those who govern them more than most folks realize. People count on shame to keep bad actors in line. But when someone utterly shameless comes along and just runs roughshod over the law? No one knows what to do.”
― David Mack, Firewall

“You would elevate tradition and societal approval over the expansion of knowledge. If anything deserves to be called ‘illogical,’ it is that.”
― David Mack, Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours

“He raised his right hand to her in the classic Vulcan salute. “Live long and prosper, Michael Burnham.” She returned the salute and felt for a moment as if she had found the brother she had never known she had always wanted. “Peace and long life, Spock.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“Life’s the cruel teacher, kid. I just grade the homework.”
― David Mack, Firewall

“had taken a trip to the edge of annihilation to remind him that life was not only far too short, but also far too beautiful and far too precious to enjoy alone.”
― David Mack, Destiny: The Complete Saga

“Everything we do today defines us—because tomorrow might never come.”
― David Mack, Destiny: The Complete Saga

“Apart from live performance, vinyl analog recordings were Georgiou’s favorite way to enjoy music. Rich, warm, and so eerily present—that was the enduring appeal of analog media, the bizarre magic that gave them such cachet”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“It’s not enough to stand up for rights and freedoms only when they’re convenient. To defend them in principle, defend them in practice, always.”
― David Mack, Vanguard #1: Harbinger

“How do you want to play it, Captain? Slow and steady, or shock and awe?”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“Engineering, this is ops! Status report!”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“Shut up, Wesley! Get back to your post or I’ll have you removed.”
― David Mack, Oblivion's Gate

“Unlike some of his peers in Starfleet, Saru enjoyed the sensation of being beamed. As he stood on the platform in front of the energizer array in the Shenzhou’s transporter room, the pressure of the annular confinement beam had a calming effect upon his oft-frazzled nerves.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“It’s human nature to focus on beginnings or endings, and that’s why we often lose sight of where we are and what we’re doing, in the moment. But the present moment—the ever-present now—is all we ever really have. Our past is already lost, gone forever. Our future might never come.”
― David Mack, Vanguard: Storming Heaven

“It took Saru a moment to realize he had been insulted twice in a matter of seconds. He clenched his fists and trembled like some overly anxious breed of small dog.”
― David Mack, Star Trek: Discovery: Desperate Hours

“You seem . . . I don’t know. Older? No—calmer than you did before.” She tilted her head as she continued to study him and collect her thoughts. “You present yourself in a way that feels more centered. Better balanced.” Her smile broadened to a grin. “You have gravitas now.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours

“The two women carried a stretcher, on which was sprawled a civilian man whose face was a swollen mass of blue and purple over broken teeth stained with blood. “Whoa, what the hell happened to HIM?”
“When the colonists surrendered, one of the hostages went off on him.”
Pike looked shocked. “One of our medics did that?”
“A dentist, actually.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
― David Mack, Desperate Hours