the pen is mightier than the sword

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

This phrasing due to Bulwer-Lytton 1839, in his play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy:

Beneath the rule of men entirely great,

The pen is mightier than the sword.

The sentiment is traditional, and has many antecedents; see Wikipedia. Some examples:

• Cicero, De Officiis I.lxxvii: cēdant arma togae (“arms yield to persuasion”).
• Antonio de Guevara, 1529, Reloj de príncipes, compares the pen to the lance; translated into English by Thomas North, 1557, as Diall of Princes.
• William Shakespeare, 1600, Hamlet, Act 2, scene II, "…many wearing rapiers are afraid of goosequills."

Proverb

the pen is mightier than the sword

1. More influence and power can be usurped by writing than by fighting.

Antonyms

• actions speak louder than words

Translations

more power can achieved writing than fighting

• Burmese: ဓားသွားထက် ကလောင်သွားထက် (my) (dar thwar htat ka laung thwar htet)
• Danish: pennen er mægtigere end sværdet (da)
• Esperanto: plumo estas pli potenca ol spado (eo)
• Estonian: sõna vägi on suurem kui sõjavägi (The power of a word is greater than the power of the army)
• Finnish: kynä on miekkaa mahtavampi (fi)
• French: la plume est plus forte que l’épée (fr)
• German: die Feder ist mächtiger als die Klinge
• Latin: cedant arma togae (la)

• Norwegian: pennen er mektigere enn sverdet (no), pennen er mektigere enn sverdet (no)
• Portuguese: a caneta é mais forte que a espada (pt)
• Russian: что написано пером, не вырубишь топором (written by pen can't be taken out by axe)
• Spanish: la pluma es más poderosa que la espada
• Swedish: pennan är mäktigare än svärdet (sv)
• Telugu: కత్తి కన్నా కలం మిన్న (katti kannaa kalaM minna)
• Turkish: kalem kılıçtan keskindir (tr)