The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

We generally take the word “mighty” to mean “very powerful” in the physical sense. Thus, great military conquerors like Alexander, Chengiz Khan, Napoleon are still regarded as among the mightiest men of old. The empires that Rome, Spain and Great Britain built up were called mighty because of their vastness and great military power. Even in modern times the United States of America and Russia are called the mightiest powers of the present days. And the sword or military strength is at the root of all this mightiness. Contrasted with this, the pen is a very humble instrument, not connected with any with physical power. So to say that the pen is mightier than the sword may seem an absurd or impossible statement.

Still the proverb, like all other proverbs, states a very simple truth. Here the words “pen” and “sword” stand for “writer” and “soldier” respectively. The word “mighty” also is used in a much wider sense to include moral and spiritual power or influence.  The proverb, therefore, means that writers and thinkers exercise a much greater influence – wider and more enduring –on men and the world than any military conqueror. Let us take the cases of the heroes named above. They were among the greatest generals of the past. But the empires they built up were limited to certain parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. And even these limited empires passed away almost with their death. The empires of Greece and Rome have gone. But Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Virgil, Dante still rule the minds of men everywhere. The British is no more: but Shakespeare is immortal. Our own country too had many mighty emperors. They and their empires are all gone; Valmiki and Kalidas sway our minds yet. Rabindranath’s empire has been extending to distant corners of the earth.

The great books the Geeta, the Bible and the Koran were written long ago. Empires have come and empires have gone in the meantime; but the spiritual influence of these books has continued unabated through ages. 

In the military sense too writers sometimes exercise a greater and wider influence than great generals. Let us take writers like Rousseau, Voltaire, Karl Marx, Tolstoy, Gorky. Their writings inspired epoch making revolutions in France and Russia, and are influencing the thoughts and ideas to people in many other countries. 

Human civilization is passing through a crisis. There is a mad race for deadly weapons to annihilate mankind. In times like these, man’s only hope lies in firm faith in the truth of the proverb “The Pen is mightier than the Sword”. It will make him give up ways of violence and take to ways of wisdom.