I guess, at the beginning of any project, I always have the same hope, which is that it's going to be wildly successful and critically acclaimed, and it'll be a major thing. Ronald D. Moore More Quotes by Ronald D. Moore More Quotes From Ronald D. Moore Essentially, you know, one of the great advantages of working in science fiction is it does give you an opportunity to talk about interesting and somewhat controversial themes and social issues and in a way that doesn't really threaten the audience, because I'm not challenging their particular points of view. Ronald D. Moore great you opportunity science I think I started watching 'Trek' in the mid-'70s when I was in elementary school, and I was just into space. Somewhere along the way, I started realizing there were really interesting ideas in the show. Ronald D. Moore think space ideas school What does it mean to be human, and what is at the human heart, and is there a soul, or is that all there is? Can an artificial being be intelligent? Is 'intelligent' the definition of humanity, or is it something deeper? Ronald D. Moore something soul humanity heart There are some good space battles in some of the later series, but that wasn't why you were tuning in every week. You were tuning in every week because Spock was a fascinating character. Because his friendship with Kirk was profound and really unusual. Ronald D. Moore good you friendship character This is my philosophy since 'Star Trek' and 'Battlestar': You have to be willing to have fandom hate what you're doing or love it and not care either way on a certain level, because you cannot become a slave to their emotion or their vote. It's not a democracy, as I'm always fond of saying. Ronald D. Moore you democracy hate love 'Generations,' we slaved over for a year; we worked it over and over and over again, and in the end, it just fell short. Ronald D. Moore short end year just There was definitely a sense that 'The Next Generation' was the 'Star Trek' stepchild that nobody liked. Ronald D. Moore sense nobody generation next Looking back now on our workload, I just shake my head at our pace. 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' was my first series, so I didn't know anything about that when I started. I just assumed it was normal to make 26 episodes a year on a seven-day shooting schedule. Ronald D. Moore generation looking know looking-back There is not a new hopeful, optimistic vision of the future that I am currently aware of. Certainly, not one that has penetrated pop culture awareness in the way 'Star Trek' has. Ronald D. Moore i-am future vision culture I'd argue that in the last few decades in America, when people are asked what they hope the future will look like, they still turn to 'Star Trek.' They hope we put aside our differences and come together as humanity, that we rise above war, poverty, racism, and other problems that have beset us. Ronald D. Moore future racism hope war