How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
Quote #7
SAREK: Only time will answer. Kirk, I thank you. What you've done is—
KIRK: What I have done, I had to do.
SAREK: But at what cost? Your ship, your son.
KIRK: If I hadn't tried, the cost would've been my soul.
Sarek, buddy, you forgot to mention Kirk's career and the injuries he got fighting Kruge. Even so, loyalty is such an integral part of Kirk's character that he could not have done otherwise. As he says, to have ignored it would have been a violation of self.