25 Gene Roddenberry Quotes From the Creator of Star Trek
Published June 14, 2023
Fans of the Star Trek franchise will love these Gene Roddenberry quotes.
Gene Roddenberry was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1921 to Eugene Roddenberry and Caroline Roddenberry and died in Santa Monica, California, in 1991 at the age of 70.
Roddenberry is best known as the creator of the famous Star Trek franchise, which includes: Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Roddenberry served in the military before he became a producer, screenwriter, and creator for television.
He later became a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department.
His first scripts were for the show Highway Patrol, Have Gun – Will Travel.
The first series he created in 1964, even before Star Trek, was called The Lieutenant.
Due to his extraordinary work, Roddenberry became the first TV writer with a star on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Take a look at these Gene Roddenberry quotes to learn more about the successful television creator and writer.
Best Gene Roddenberry Quotes
Gene Roddenberry had many things to say over his lifetime.
1. “I’m in a period of growth and expansion.” — Gene Roddenberry
2. “For me, science fiction is a way of thinking.” — Gene Roddenberry
3. “They say that ninety percent of TV is junk.” — Gene Roddenberry
4. “It has become a crusade of mine to demonstrate that TV need not be violent to be exciting.” — Gene Roddenberry
5. “Why are we now going into space? Well, why did we trouble to look past the next mountain?” — Gene Roddenberry
6. “It does not matter that we will not reach our ultimate goal. The effort itself yields its own reward.” — Gene Roddenberry
7. “A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.” — Gene Roddenberry
8. “‘Star Trek’ says that it has not all happened, it has not all been discovered, that tomorrow can be as challenging and adventurous as any time man has ever lived.” — Gene Roddenberry
9. “It seems to me obvious in too many ways to need listing that we cannot much longer depend upon our planet’s relatively fragile ecosystem to handle the realities of the human tomorrow.” — Gene Roddenberry
10. “The present blitz about drugs – I think it looks very much like how we treated insane people 100 years ago — throw them in the cage – as if that’s the whole answer. And it’s not the whole answer.” — Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry Quotes About Diversity
The Star Trek author developed many opinions on diversity through his writings and research.
11. “In a very real sense, we are all aliens on a strange planet.” — Gene Roddenberry
12. “We will find it impossible to fear diversity and to enter the future at the same time.” — Gene Roddenberry
13. “The worst possible thing is for all of us to begin to look and talk and act and think alike.” — Gene Roddenberry
14. “To be different is not necessarily to be ugly; to have a different idea is not necessarily to be wrong.” — Gene Roddenberry
15. “Because something or someone looks or acts differently from us does not necessarily mean that it is ugly or bad.” — Gene Roddenberry
16. “He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety, not something to fear.” — Gene Roddenberry
17. “Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms.” — Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry Quotes to Make You Think
Take a look at these thought-provoking quotes by Gene Roddenberry.
18. “Can all this just be an accident?” — Gene Roddenberry
19. “In a better world, I can do anything.” — Gene Roddenberry
20. “It is the struggle itself that is most important.” — Gene Roddenberry
21. “Earth is the nest, the cradle, and we’ll move out of it.” — Gene Roddenberry
22. “Art is really people asking the eternal question, ‘What is it all about?’” — Gene Roddenberry
23. “It isn’t all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.” — Gene Roddenberry
24. “The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.” — Gene Roddenberry
25. “Our society is so fragile, so dependent on the interworking of things to provide us with goods and services, that you don’t need nuclear warfare to fragment us anymore than the Romans needed it to cause their eventual downfall.” — Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry’s Personal Life
Roddenberry was married twice but was well known for his many affairs throughout his marriages.
He had two daughters with his first wife Eileen-Anita Rexroat, and a son with his second wife, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry.
Although Roddenberry was raised as a Southern Baptist, as an adult, he rejected any and all organized religion, although he did believe there was a God.
Share these Gene Roddenberry quotes with your Star Trek-loving family and friends, and share your favorite Roddenberry quote in the comment section below.
