The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #45
RULE #45 : Expand or die.
From: ENT: “Acquisition”; VOY: “False Profits”
NOTE: Rule of Acquisition #95 was quoted as Rule #45 in ENT: “Acquisition”. It might be possible though, that in the roughly two hundred years between the two episodes, the arrangement of the Rules of Acquisition slightly changed. Alternatively, it may have been decided that the rule bears repeating. Indeed, this may be self-referential. The rule was first mentioned in Legends of the Ferengi. Quark notes that the phrase was inspired by a Breen. THIS DOES NOT APPEAR IN THE FERENGI RULES OF ACQUISITION
The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition were originally featured on Deep Space Nine, which aired until May 31, 1999. Only a fraction of the initial 285 Rules were ever directly referenced on the show. The books The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition and Legends of the Ferengi (both written by showrunner Ira Steven Behr), future Star Trek series, and apocrypha have added additional Rules which may not have been approved by The Ferengi Commerce Authority. There are at least 431 Rules as of 2025, some of which conflict with the original 285. I have compiled about 150 individual Rules from Mr. Behr’s books with comparisons to Memory Alpha and will include any appropriate notation where available. This is all just for fun! LLAP -erickelly
