An illustration of Cardinal Richelieu holding a sword, by H. A. Ogden, 1892, from The Works of Edward Bulwer Lytton

The pen is mightier than the sword is an adage coined by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy.^[1] The play was about Cardinal Richelieu. The Cardinal's line in Act II, scene II, was more fully:^[2] Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ... An adage (IPA ) is a short, but memorable saying, which holds some important fact of experience that is considered true by many people, or it has gained some credibility through its long use. ... Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (May 25, 1803 - January 18, 1873) was an English novelist, playwright, and politician. ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Cardinal Richelieu was the French chief minister from 1624 until his death. ...

True, This! — Beneath the rule of men entirely great, Image File history File links Cquote1. ... The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! — But taking sorcery from the master-hand To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword — States can be saved without it!

In 1870, literary critic Edward Sherman Gould wrote that Bulwer "had the good fortune to do, what few men can hope to do: he wrote a line that is likely to live for ages."^[1] By 1888, an author, Charles Sharp, feared that repeating the phrase "might sound trite and commonplace".^[3] The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, which opened in 1897, has the adage decorating the border of the west wall of the entrance pavillion's second floor south corridor.^[4] Though Bulwer's phrasing was effectively a neologism at its inception, the idea of communication surpassing violence in efficacy had numerous predecessors. Image File history File links Cquote2. ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1888 (MDCCCLXXXVIII) is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... The Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress The oldest of the three United States Library of Congress buildings, the Thomas Jefferson Building opened in 1897. ... The Great Hall interior. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A neologism is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ... In general, efficacy is the ability to produce an effect, usually a specifically desired effect. ...

Motto

The phrase appeared as the motto of gold pen manufacturer Levi Willcutt during a Railroad Jubilee in Boston, Massachusetts which ran during the week beginning 17 September 1852.^[5] A motto is a phrase or a short list of words meant formally to describe the general motivation or intention of an entity, social group, or organization. ... A ballpoint pen A pen is a writing instrument which applies ink to a surface. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub of the Universe (The State House, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, is the hub of the Solar System), Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

It is the motto of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority. In its Latinized form, Calamvs Gladio Fortior, it is the motto of Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. Alpha Xi Delta (ΑΞΔ) was founded in 1893 by ten women at Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois, who shared a vision of an organization dedicated to the personal growth of women. ... While the term fraternity can be used to describe any number of social organizations, including the Lions Club and the Shriners, fraternities and sororities are most commonly known as social organizations of higher education students in the United States and Canada but there are fraternities in the whole world (for... Latin is an ancient [[Indo-European languages|Indo-well as the Roman CEuropean language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Keio University (library, Mita campus) Keio University as seen from Tokyo Tower Keio University (慶應義塾大学 Keiō Gijuku Daigaku) is the top private university in Japan, which has a proud history as Japans very first private institution of higher learning, which dates back to the formation of a school for Dutch... Tokyo (東京; Tōkyō, lit. ...

Predecessors

According to the website Trivia-Library.com,^[6] the book The People's Almanac, by Irving Wallace and David Wallechinsky lists several supposed predecessors to Bulwer's phrasing. The Peoples Almanac was a series of books published in the 1970s and 1980s by Irving Wallace, the novelist responsible for co-authoring the The Book of Lists series. ... Irving Wallace (March 19, 1916 - June 29, 1990) was an American bestselling author and screenwriter. ... David Wallechinsky (born 5 February 1948) is an Olympic historian, who worked as commentator for NBC Olympic coverage and is the author of many Olympic reference books and other reference books. ...

Their first example comes from the Greek playright Euripides,who died circa 406 BC. He is supposed to have written: "The tongue is mightier than the blade."^[6] If the People's Almanac is correct, it should be possible to source this to an extant work by Euripides; however, the quote does appear in the 1935 fictional work Claudius the God and his Wife Messalina by Robert Graves,^[7] and is thus is possibly an anachronism. A statue of Euripides Euripides (Greek: Ευριπίδης) (c. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC - 400s BC - 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC Years: 411 BC 410 BC 409 BC 408 BC 407 BC - 406 BC - 405 BC 404 BC... The Peoples Almanac is actually a series of almanacs published between the 1970s and 1980s by Irving Wallace (best known for his Book of Lists). ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English scholar, poet, and novelist. ... Look up Anachronism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Several possible precursors do appear in the Old and New Testaments,^[8] for example in the Epistle to the Hebrews, attributed to St. Barnabas, circa 95 AD. Chapter 4, verse 12 reads: "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart."^[9] Note: Judaism commonly uses the term Tanakh. ... John 21:1 Jesus Appears to His Disciples--Alessandro Mantovani: the Vatican, Rome. ... The Epistle to the Hebrews (abbr. ... Barnabas was an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. ... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 0s BC - 0s - 10s - 20s - 30s - 40s - 50s - 60s - 70s - 80s - 90s - 100s Years: 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 // Events Frontinus is appointed superintendent of the aqueducts (curator aquarum) in Rome. ... Look up AD, ad-, and ad in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The Mughal Empire, as described in the Akbarnama, by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, who died in 1602 and was a personal scribe to Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar (Akbar the Great), drew a distinction between "men of pens" and "men of swords".^{[citation needed][10]} Syad Muhammad Latif, in his 1896 history of Agra, quotes King Abdullah of Bokhara (Abdulla-Khan II), who died in 1598, as saying that "He was more afraid of Abu'l-Fazl's pen than of Akbar's sword"^[11] The Mughal Empire at its greatest extent. ... The Akbarnama, which literally means History of Akbar, is a biographical account of Akbar, and include vivid and detailed descriptions of his life and time. ... Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak (Persian:ابو الفضل) also known as Abul-Fazl, Abul Fadl and Abul-Fadl Allami: the vizier of the great Mughal emperor Akbar, and author of the Akbarnama, an account of Akbars reign. ... This page is about the year. ... Illustration of a 15th century scribe This is about scribe, the profession. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... King Abdullah can refer to: Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, current king of Saudi Arabia Abdullah II, current king of Jordan Abdullah I, Emir of Transjordan (1921–1946) and King of Transjordan (1946–1949) This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... For other uses, see Bukhara (disambiguation). ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ...

Other examples include:

• Antonio de Guevara, in 1529 in Reloj de príncipes, compares a pen to a lance, books to arms, and studying life versus war: "¡Cuánta diferencia vaya de mojar la péñola de la tinta a teñir la lanza en la sangre, y estar rodeados de libros o estar cargados de armas, de estudiar cómo cada uno ha de vivir o andar a saltear en la guerra para a su prójimo matar!"^[12]
• Thomas North, in 1557, translated Reloj de príncipes into English as Diall of Princes..^[12]
• In 1571, from Institution of a Christian Prince (likely spurious): "There is no sworde to bee feared more than the Learned pen."^{[citation needed][13]}
• George Whetstone, in 1582, in Heptameron of Civil Discourses: "The dashe of a Pen, is more greeuous then the counter use of a Launce"^{[citation needed]}
• William Shakespeare, in 1600, in his play Hamlet Act 2, scene II: "... many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills."^[6]
• Robert Burton, in 1621, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, stated: "From this it is clear how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword."^[6]
• Thomas Jefferson, on 19 June 1792, in a letter to Thomas Paine: "Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword: shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man, and be assured that it has not a more sincere votary nor you a more ardent well-wisher than Yrs."^[6][14]

Antonio de Guevara (c. ... Events April 22 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297. ... The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. ... Sir Thomas North (1535? - 1601?), English translator of Plutarch, second son of the 1st Baron North, was born about 1535. ... Events Spain is effectively bankrupt. ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ... George Whetstone (1544?-1587?) was an English dramatist and author. ... Events January 15 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland February 24 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. ... The term lance has become a catchall for a variety of different pole weapons based on the spear. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... 1597 1598 1599 - 1600 - 1601 1602 1603 |- | align=center colspan=2 | Decades: 1570s 1580s 1590s - 1600s - 1610s 1620s 1630s |- | align=center | Centuries: 15th century - 16th century - 17th century |} // Events January January 1 - Scotland adopts January 1st as being New Years Day February February 17 - Giordano Bruno burned at the... The third quarto of Hamlet (1605); a straight reprint of the 2nd quarto (1604) The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is one of his best-known and most-quoted plays. ... Silver damascened rapier guard, between 1580 and 1600. ... A quill pen is made from a flight feather (preferably a primary) of a large bird, most often a goose. ... Robert Burton Robert Burton (February 8, 1577 – January 25, 1640) was an English scholar and vicar at Oxford University, best known for writing The Anatomy of Melancholy. ... Events February 9 - Gregory XV is elected pope. ... Front page of The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy (Full title The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. ... Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 N.S. – July 4, 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and an influential founder of the United States. ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Influences

The adage has been used in various forms by many writers. For example, Terry Pratchett in The Light Fantastic (1986) wrote: The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.[1] Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ...

References