“Logic is the beginning of wisdom. Not the end.”

From: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Genre: Movies/ Television

Who said it?: Spock

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the sixth film of the Star Trek, The Original Series, franchise of films. Entitled The Undiscovered Country, the film has the crew of the Enterprise trying to find a traitor in the Federation who wishes to prevent the Klingons from joining after their home planet was destroyed.

The quote comes near the start of the movie. Captain Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) talks to Valeris (played by Kim Cattrall), who is training her to be his apprentice. Valeris mentions that the Klingons is a landmark moment of history and Spock mentions that history is filled with these moments and she should have faith that the universe will make sure everything turns out right. Valeris starts to rebuke this idea but Spock interrupts and delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: Logic is basically the data we’ve accrued and then we use this information to make an informed decision. However, wisdom is knowing that the information you may have gathered may not be the whole story. Wisdom is knowing that there may be more underlying all the information.

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.”

From: Star Trek

Genre: Television, Movies

Who said it?: James T. Kirk, Jean Luc Picard

The story behind the quote: This quote is probably something everyone is familiar with. It comes from the opening narration of Star Trek. But first, let’s talk about Star Trek.

The basic premise of all Star Trek iterations is that a huge spaceship, the USS Enterprise, goes around the universe attempting to make brand new discoveries and encounter new alien races to communicate with. One of the things that made each version of Star Trek memorable was the diverse cast and the attitudes of the crew of the Enterprise. The original 1966 series had James T. Kirk, the captain of the ship, who was usually led by following his instincts. However, his First Office, a Vulcan named Spock, who only works with pure logic.

The second series, called Star Trek: The Next Generation, added more diversity. The crew of the new Enterprise now had a Klingon (a race of aliens that were actually the main antagonists of the original series) named Worf and a full-fledged android named Data joining an entirely new cast.

Anyway, every series would always have the same intro, with a narrator stating the full mission of the USS Enterprise.

Here’s the original version from the first series…

Now, here’s the introduction from Star Trek: The Next Generation…

Geek wisdom: We all want to play it safe and stay in our comfort zone and, honestly, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, it’s when we don’t explore and do new things once in a while is when we stagnate. We all have to eventually try new things and go to new places. In fact, this is the best way for us to keep learning new things.