This has long been a rallying cry among Klingons. When Commander Kang and a group of stranded Klingons forced James T. Kirk into letting them board the Enterprise after their own ship had been destroyed, the Federation crew and the Klingons became engaged in a series of bloody skirmishes, with neither side able to achieve victory. Captain Kirk realized that an alien life form aboard the ship was controlling them, causing them to continue the fighting. The only way to thwart this entity was to work together with the Klingons and stop the hostilities. Kang's science officer and wife, Mara, did not think it would be easy to convince him to cooperate, since combat is the Klingon way. "We have always fought," she said. "We must ... We must push outward if we are to survive."

Years later, the idea is still present in the Klingon consciousness. Worf one noted that many Klingons feel "the Empire must expand to survive." The word for "survive," "{taH}," can also be translated "continue, endure, go on."