The pen is mightier than the sword

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is an expression indicating that the written word is more effective than violence as a means of social or political change.

"[10] According to the website Trivia Library,[12] the book The People's Almanac[11] provides another very early example from Greek playwright Euripides, who died c. 406 BCE.

"[12][a] The Islamic prophet Muhammad is quoted, in a saying narrated by 'Abdullah ibn Amr: "There will be a tribulation that will wipe out the Arabs in which those killed on both sides are in the Hellfire.

"[15][17] Syad Muhammad Latif, in his 1896 history of Agra, quoted King Abdullah of Bokhara (Abdullah-Khan II), who died in 1598, as saying that "He was more afraid of Abu'l-Fazl's pen than of Akbar's sword.

"[18] In contrast, Abu Tammam's Ode on the Conquest of Amorium poem intro: "The sword is the truest news [in comparison with] books...

"[22][b] Netizens have suggested that a 1571 edition of Erasmus' Institution of a Christian Prince contains the words "There is no sworde to bee feared more than the Learned pen",[23][24] but this is not evident from modern translations[25] and this could be merely a spurious quotation.

"[27] After listing several historical examples he concludes: "Hinc quam sit calamus saevior ense patet",[27] which translates as "From this it is clear how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword.

"[12] The French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821), known to history for his military conquests, also left this oft-quoted remark: "Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets."