Star Trek: 10 Crazy Facts About Ferengi
1. The Rules Of Acquisition
Nothing defines Ferengi culture more than the Rules of Acquisition, the book that contains 285 rules that govern the way the Ferengi do business. Breaking them can cause serious repercussions from the FCA. Well, unless you can come up with a sizable enough bribe, of course.
While it's not known for sure when this went down, Gint, the first Grand Nagus authored the original Rules of Acquisition. It's estimated that this happened roughly around 8000 BC, and was considered an immediate bestseller. Over the next several millennia, the Rules were added to and expanded upon until the modern 285 came into being.
But in a dream where he met Gint, Quark was told by the former Grand Nagus that the Rules were a marketing ploy to sell a book, and not meant to be so hard and fast. Whether this is true or not is certainly up for debate, but it also wouldn't be surprising knowing the Ferengi.
In case you were wondering, the number one rule is, "Once you have their money, you never give it back." The 285th is, "No good deed ever goes unpunished." All the rules between them cover every other eventuality.