To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination." - Meaning and context.">
Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
Dr. Agnes Jurati: They've left us behind, Picard! They're generations beyond us!
Jean-Luc Picard: In one sense, yes, but in another, as you said, they are children. And until now, the only teachers that they've had are a couple of hermits, and the fear of extermination. But fear is an incompetent teacher. Yes, they have life. But no one is teaching them what it's for. To be alive is a responsibility, as well as a right.
Dr. Agnes Jurati: How are they supposed to learn that lesson in six minutes and eleven seconds?
Jean-Luc Picard: The way that children learn most things: by example.
• Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman. See also partially: The middle of Youtube Video "Captain Picard: The Role Model We Need" (16.06.2021) by user "Ryan's Edits".
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To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination.

— Jean-Luc Picard

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "To say you have no choice is a failure of imagination." in the context of "Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
Dr. Agnes Jurati: They've left us behind, Picard! They're generations beyond us!
Jean-Luc Picard: In one sense, yes, but in another, as you said, they are children. And until now, the only teachers that they've had are a couple of hermits, and the fear of extermination. But fear is an incompetent teacher. Yes, they have life. But no one is teaching them what it's for. To be alive is a responsibility, as well as a right.
Dr. Agnes Jurati: How are they supposed to learn that lesson in six minutes and eleven seconds?
Jean-Luc Picard: The way that children learn most things: by example.
• Et En Arcadia Argo, Part 2 (March 26, 2020) by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman. See also partially: The middle of Youtube Video "Captain Picard: The Role Model We Need" (16.06.2021) by user "Ryan's Edits"." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Jean-Luc Picard" (Quotes, Star Trek: Picard: Laris: Bad dreams? Jean-Luc Picard: The dreams are lovely. It's the waking up that I'm beginning to resent.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Jean-Luc Picard

About Jean-Luc Picard

Jean-Luc Picard (13 July 2305–) is a character in the Star Trek fictional universe, the captain of the USS Enterprise-D and the Enterprise-E. He was played by British actor Patrick Stewart in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the subsequent films and the streaming television series Star Trek: Picard.