The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword ... ?

Question

This is a very random question, but ...

What do you think that saying means?

Should it have been worded differently?

Any random thoughts on it?

I've been thinking about the saying lately and wanted to hear other people's views on what it means or any random thoughts that pop into their heads when hearing it. I'm also going to give an answer:

I understand the meaning behind it as words and communication being more powerful than wars and fighting. However, I think it was worded badly. Taken in the literal sense and some mongoloids may take it, it can be disproved: bring your pen and I'll bring my sword, and while you are writing I will slit your throat. I think it was just worded in a way that confuses people in an attempt to make it sound more intelligent. I think the much more blunt meaning of the use of words being more powerful than that of fighting sounds much more intelligent, makes more sense, and cannot be misinterpreted.

That saying has just always annoyed me and I wanted to hear everyone else's thoughts on it.

Answer 1

its true being smart is better than being strong

Answer 2

idk what it means but i know if u give one guy a sword, and another the pen, the guy with the sword has an easy win coming.

Answer 3

The pen is the instrument that is used to disseminate an idea so that others can become acquainted with the thought and take it for their own. A pen wrote our Constitution which is the idea of a country where all men are free. They can work at what they wish, worship they way they wish too and enjoy owning property and living peacefully. Many people the world over embrace this idea no matter where they live. The journey of many who have learned of this idea to come here and live the idea is testament to the power of the pen.

The sword can, through fear, compel obedience but you cannot make a man believe with a sword. He may be forced to go along but he cannot be forced to believe what he does not want to believe.

I like the way it is phrased but clarity might be gained by saying  mankind  thrives on ideas but withers under suppression or the true mind of man can embrace a thought but will not be enslaved by an idea forced upon it.

Answer 4

I think it means that you could write sumthing down and it could kill someone emotionally forever it's basically worse than than actually killing someone

Answer 5

I take the meaning as words can overpower violence, hence the pen (writing) is mightier (stronger) than the sword (attacks, violence.)

Hope that helped!

Answer 6

It means a good writer can influence people far more than a well-armed person.

Answer 7

I always took it to mean that ideas are more powerful than weapons, because they influence which way the sword swings, so to speak. If you have an enemy, and convince everyone he is a villain somehow, then you inevitably outmatched him strength-wise. Ideas dictate action-- what people do, like raising a sword. The pen is a way of expressing ideas. This statement is very pertinent, I think, to totalitarian governments, like Stalin's Russia, Hitler's Germany, etc.

Good question. I've always been interested in that quote too.

Edit: Thank you!  The quote is also very related to George Orwell's 1984. Also check out Nobel Prize winning "Gulag Archipelago" by Russian Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a man very familiar with Soviet secret police and their methods, and the forced labor and concentration camp system that existed in the Soviet Union under Stalin's reign of terror. I really enjoyed both books. Check them out if you haven't.

Answer 8

It took me a pretty long time to make sense of this saying..

I /think/ it has to do with words being more powerful than physical..ness...

Like for example, words being able to hurt more than physical hits.

Answer 9

I guess my interpretation to this line is very different. I think it's perfect the way it is. When you write (using a pen) the words "Joe Blow is a b*****d" on a piece of paper, that line will always be there forever for all to read for years. If you kill me with your sword for saying it, I will die and my words will die with me. It's like writing a will, it's not good if you don't have it writing.