I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Leonard Nimoy. Which is strange, because I am not a trekkie. Yet, it’s affecting me. Maybe it’s because I am at an age where my childhood cultural references are starting to die.
Like most people of my generation, Spock was a magnet. The quintessential outsider who relied on his intellectual prowess; a hero to kids who embraced their brain over peer pressure; a hero to adults, who, like Spock, needed to deal with disruption at every turn. Yes, Spock would have agreed – thinking clearly, along with creativity and innovation can indeed save our businesses & our planet.
Reading all his tributes, the one that stood out the most to me was from Seth MacFarlane. “Leonard Nimoy brought us one of the greatest, noblest characters in the history of American storytelling. Someone find the Genesis Planet.”
Leonard Nimoy’s struggle to rise above his beloved character has been well documented, as was his ultimate acceptance. Clearly, everyone knew what a great actor he was. But he wasn’t able to move past Spock. Spock took over.
Which makes me think about what it’s like to be an artist defined by your most popular work. It can trap you, yet the power of one act of art, and it’s ability to change people’s ideas of what is right or wrong, is an awesome force. You never know what the zeitgeist will bring.
Star Trek was cancelled after three seasons. But word spread, one devotee at a time. There was nothing magical about what happened – the show just needed time for people to catch up. The show captured the right people’s imagination. Its triumph was the love it had from its audience.
It’s hard to imagine a world where Leonard Nimoy would have turned down playing Spock. The show most certainly would not have tipped without him. He may not have had the acting career he wanted, but I believe that in the end, Nimoy felt grateful for the tsunami that was Spock. I know I am.
Here are my top Spock quotes to live by:
- Change is the essential process of all existence.
- Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.
- Insufficient facts always invite danger.
- The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few
- In critical moments, men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see.
- Humans find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million.
- Live long and prosper.