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."

These two maxims express the belief that fighting and winning define a Klingon's very being; everything else in life is secondary, if not superfluous. Unless they are engaged in battle or preparing for battle, Klingons become rather cantankerous (though, to those unfamiliar with Klingons, this might not be noticeable). As a result, Klingons are likely to, at the slightest provocation, instigate a battle of some sort.

Lieutenant Commander Worf is well aware of the Klingon predilection reflected in these two sayings. Though raised among humans, he has always prided himself on his knowledge of Klingon history and culture. He observed that a potentially dangerous situation involving the Dominion and the Cardassians, which the Klingons viewed as a threat, "has given my people an excuse to do what they were born to do: to fight and to conquer."

This sentence was from the first edition and was completely replaced in the second edition of the paq'batlh with the following:

HarghmeH yeq chaH
molor HI''a' luSuv
lughIjlu'be' 'ej pujHa' 'e' lu'aghmeH Suv

This is an ancient adage, originally voiced by Kahless himself.

Interestingly, when the Federation first started learning about Klingons, Kahless was considered to be no more than an evil conqueror. He had formed an empire of, in James Kirk's words, "conquered worlds." The Klingons, Kirk felt, "take what they want by arms and force." As part of their examination of the behavior of other life forms, the Excalbians staged a conflict between the forces of "good"---represented by Kirk, Spock, and the images of Abraham Lincoln and the Vulcan philosopher Surak---and those of "evil"---represented by, among others, the image of Kahless. The Excalbians formed their replica of Kahless on the basis of the Federation's concept of him. Therefore, they described him in terms fitting an oppressor: "the Klingon who set the pattern for his planet's tyrannies."

In time, and as more was learned about Klingon history and culture, the Federation's understanding of the role of Kahless in Klingon history changed. It is now known that Klingons consider him a great warrior who did indeed conquer other worlds, but united the Empire by giving the people the laws of honor which direct every Klingon's life.