<P> The accompanying spoken blessing, "live long and prosper"--"dif - tor heh smusma" in the Vulcan language (as spoken in Star Trek: The Motion Picture)--also appeared for the first time in "Amok Time", scripted by Theodore Sturgeon . The less - well - known reply is "peace and long life", though it is sometimes said first, with "live long and prosper" as the reply . The phrase has been seen abbreviated "LLAP". </P> <P> An ancient Egyptian blessing "ankh wedja seneb", while its verbatim translation is uncertain, uses the three symbols "life", "prosperity" and "health"; it has been translated as "may he live, be prosperous, be healthy ." The New International Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 5: 33, includes the phrase "live and prosper" as part of Moses' admonitions to the Hebrew people prior to entering Canaan; other translations include the notion of long life as well . William Shakespeare's 1594 Romeo and Juliet contains the line, "Live and be prosperous: and farewell good fellow", spoken by Romeo to Balthasar, his friend and servant . The benediction "live and prosper" is attributed to the 18th - century organized crime figure Jonathan Wild in his 1725 biography written by "H.D.", possibly a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe . </P> <P> In Trilby, by George du Maurier (published in 1894), a description of an art student ends with the sentence, "May he live long and prosper!" </P>

May the force be with you hand sign