- [Seven blames Torres for being careless with her thoughts]
- Neelix: B'Elanna's not used to being around telepaths. That doesn't make her guilty.
- Seven of Nine: Then her crime was ignorance - a common affliction among your crew.
- Neelix: What's that supposed to mean?
- Seven of Nine: You make contact with alien species without sufficient understanding of their nature. As a result, Voyager's directive to "seek out new civilizations" often ends in conflict.
- Neelix: What you call ignorance, we call exploration, and... sometimes it means taking a few risks, but it's-it's certainly better than assimilating everything in your path.
- Seven of Nine: Your goal is to share knowledge. Assimilation is the perfect means of attaining that goal.
- Neelix: "Perfect."
- [Neelix is telling Paris about his idea of a romantic evening with his love interest]
- Tom Paris: Sounds like a good strategy.
- Neelix: Do you really think so? I mean... you used to be quite the ladies' man.
- Tom Paris: Used to be?
- Neelix: Well... well, I mean, you're involved now, so of course you won't be availing yourself of all the beautiful, fascinating and very open-minded Mari women.
- Tom Paris: Neelix, are you trying to depress me?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Our experience with the Mari gave us an insight into a culture we've never encountered.
- Seven of Nine: But that is irrelevant.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: No, it's how we gain knowledge.
- Seven of Nine: Then we are in disagreement.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [humorously] Good. I dread the day when everyone on this ship agrees with me.
- Tuvok: If you must know, investigating this case has given me a new respect for your inner struggle.
- B'Elanna Torres: Really?
- Tuvok: Burdened as you are by your primitive Klingon psyche, it is a wonder you are able to keep your violent thoughts under control as much as you do.
- B'Elanna Torres: Thanks... I think.
- Seven of Nine: You wish to return this vessel to the Alpha Quadrant, and yet you are following Starfleet protocol regarding first contact. The two objectives are incompatible.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: How so?
- Seven of Nine: Your philosophy of "exploration" exposes Voyager to constant risk. If you maintain a direct course to Earth and avoid all extraneous contact with alien species, it will increase your chances of survival.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Well, that would make a dull ride home.
- Seven of Nine: Captain?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: We seek out new races because we want to, not because we're following protocols. We have an insatiable curiosity about the universe.
- The Doctor: You can return to duty, Lieutenant, though perhaps with one or two fewer violent engrams in that fiery head of yours.
- B'Elanna Torres: It's all right, Doc. There are plenty more where those came from.
- The Doctor: Duly warned.
- [Tuvok has discovered a black market for violent thoughts on the Mari homeworld]
- Chief Examiner Nimira: Why would any of my people want to indulge in that kind of behavior?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Apparently, outlawing violent thought hasn't made it go away. All you've done is force people to share it in back alleys.
- Tuvok: It seems you have a somewhat more serious problem than the random thoughts of a single alien.
- [last line, after Seven of Nine abruptly exits the ready room without Janeway's leave]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [amused and alone] Dismissed.
- B'Elanna Torres: Where we come from, people are responsible for their own actions.
- Chief Examiner Nimira: And here, people are responsible for their own thoughts.
- [Tom suggests retrieving B'Elanna by force from the Mari]
- Tom Paris: They're a bunch of pacifists. They're no match for us.
- Chakotay: You're probably right, but before we start resorting to extreme measures, don't you think we should give the Captain a chance to find a legal solution?
- Tom Paris: By the time that happens, it may be too late.
- Chakotay: I'll tell you what. Why don't you come up with a rescue plan, one that minimizes the possibility of violence, and I'll review it?
- Tom Paris: Just trying to keep me busy, aren't you?
- Chakotay: Can you blame me?
- Tuvok: [to Chief Examiner Nimira] If all species were as enlightened as yours and mine, there would be no need for prisons.
- Chief Examiner Nimira: [repulsed by the thought of incarceration] We have an enlightened penal system here. Unlike some, we don't lock people away to punish them.
- [to B'Elanna]
- Chief Examiner Nimira: You'll be released... once you've undergone the engramatic purge.
- B'Elanna Torres: The what?
- Chief Examiner Nimira: It's a medical procedure that will identify and remove the offending images from your mind.