Jonathan Frakes: Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

Where Silence Has Lease

Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

Lt. Cmdr. Data: [of the "hole" in space] Sir, our sensors are showing this to be the absence of everything. It is a void without matter or energy of any kind.
Commander William T. Riker: Yet this hole has a form, Data; it has height, width...
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Perhaps. Perhaps not, sir.
Capt. Picard: That's hardly a scientific observation, Commander.
Lt. Cmdr. Data: Captain, the most elementary and valuable statement in science, the beginning of wisdom, is, "I do not know". I do not know what that is, sir.

[Riker and Worf have run one of Worf's rigorous calisthenics programs on the holodeck]
Commander William T. Riker: You do this every day?
Lieutenant Worf: No, Commander. Usually, my calisthenics are more... intense. But those sessions are too personal to be shared.
Commander William T. Riker: I'll bet they are.

[the Enterprise is set to auto destruct and time is running out]
Enterprise Computer: Ten seconds to auto-destruct.
Commander William T. Riker: [tense] Captain...
Capt. Picard: Abort auto-destruct sequence.
Enterprise Computer: Riker, William T., do you concur?
Commander William T. Riker: Yes, absolutely, I do indeed concur wholeheartedly!
Enterprise Computer: Auto-destruct canceled.
[everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief]
Capt. Picard: A simple 'yes' would have sufficed, Number One.
Commander William T. Riker: I didn't want there to be any chance of misunderstanding.

[last lines]
Capt. Picard: Ensign, put us back on course, warp 3.
Wesley Crusher: Aye, sir, warp 3.
Commander William T. Riker: And Ensign, if you encounter any holes... steer clear.

Commander William T. Riker: Remember the course in ancient history at Starfleet Academy? About the time when men still believed the Earth was flat?
Capt. Picard: Mmm. And that the sun revolved around it.
Commander William T. Riker: And that if a ship sailed too far out into the ocean, it would fall off the edge of the world.
Capt. Picard: "Beyond this place, there be dragons." It's even said that crews threatened to hang their captain from the yardarm if he refused to turn back.
Commander William T. Riker: I'm sure no one here has that in mind, sir.
Capt. Picard: How comforting, Number One.

Commander William T. Riker: [Worf loses control during a training exercise] The exercise is over!
[Worf doesn't hear him, and attacks]
Commander William T. Riker: AT EASE, LIEUTENANT!