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."

{bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'.} ("The sword is in the ocean.")

This is another expression based on a story about Kahless. After Kahless's brother, Morath, killed their father, Morath threw their father's sword into the ocean, saying that if he could not have the sword, no one could.

After that, the brothers never spoke again. The idiom {bIQ'a'Daq 'oHtaH 'etlh'e'} ("The sword is in the ocean"; {bIQ'a',} "ocean"; {'etlh,} "sword") is used to mean that something has ended, that it is impossible to return to a prior condition, just as Kahless and Morath never spoke to each other again. The expression might be used, for example, in reference to a treaty that was just signed, suggesting that a former state of antagonism has ended forever. Of course, simply saying that something will last forever does not make it so. If an alliance ends, the phrase is equally apt: the era of peace has ended, and the sword is in the ocean---there is no going back.

As vital as musculature and weaponry are in winning battles or maintaining control, other qualities are equally if not more important. The unstated significance of this maxim is that intelligence and judgment play key roles in any confrontation.

When Worf learned that his father, who had been killed by Romulans in the Khitomer massacre, was later falsely accused of treason, he decided to exercise his responsibility as a son and appear before the Klingon High Council either to clear his father's name or to be punished for his crimes. According to Klingon custom, even though Worf was the one bringing the challenge, he was considered the accused since he would bear the punishment if the accusations against his father stood. During the course of the proceedings he was not permitted to participate in any fights himself, but instead was defended by an aide ("{cha'DIch}," literally, "second").

After Kurn, Worf's younger brother and first {cha'DIch}, was wounded, Worf asked Captain Picard to be his {cha'DIch}. Though, as Picard pointed out, stronger men were available, Worf preferred the captain, undoubtedly because of his shrewdness and loyalty. Such qualities are valued more than physical prowess alone.

The first formal meeting between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets, which eventually resulted in their alliance, was held on Khitomer, a planet near the Klingon-Romulan border. Representing the Empire was Azetbur, who was appointed to lead the Klingon High Council after her father, Chancellor Gorkon, was assassinated by a coalition of those opposed to the impending peace. In her address to the conference, Azetbur altered this saying slightly when she insisted that the treaty in no way diminished the stature of the Klingon Empire: "We are a proud race, and we are here because we intend to go on being proud."

Years later, as the Federation-Klingon alliance began to fall apart, Klingon leader Gowron still adhered to this virtue. When he discovered that his rationale for moving against the Federation was based on misinformation, he held his ground, maintaining Klingon pride by coming up with a new justification for his aggression. That the Dominion had not taken over the Cardassian government "is of no consequence," Gowron said. "All that matters is that the Alpha Quadrant will be safer with the Klingon Empire in control of Cardassia."