I remember I read a cartoon once that one society was going to give another, less modern society a chance of what gift they wanted to have bestowed onto them. They cold either have all the gold and riches they could ever need, or they could have a bunch of scholars teach them how to read. They chose the former.
Now, battles have been fought and lost for millenia. Sometimes those battles last for a long time, sometimes they don't, but compared to the pen, they're just fleeting moments in history. One of the biggest historical figures didn't carry a sword and, if no one wrote about him he would probably go unnoticed. So who cares if he was a peaceful man who shook an era and who was a rebel at heart who wasn't afraid to fight? Many generals shake eras, many generals are not afraid to fight. Alexander the Great comes to mind. But even Alexander the Great can even stand up to the peaceful man just because so many people wrote about this man. So many people talked about him, communicated in some forms or another, wrote and because of this writing, this peaceful man has stirred up history and even affects my life today. Alexander the Great doesn't do that for me. Jesus Christ does.
The sword is temporary, the pen stays around forever.
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.
"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach
The pen, because as someone has already said, the pen has an infinite lifetime, while the sword can only be mighty for a limited amount of time.
Here's an example. Julius Caesar, a great historic figure, was a writer, a historian, a General and quite a lot of other things. When on his foreign campaigns, he kept close notes about his tactics in battle and notes about what was happening at the time in the world. He used his pen to record everyhting, and he usd his "sword" (loose term - his army used swords) to win him battles, which eventually led him on the way to become the Ruler of Rome. Of course, ironically, he was then stabbed to death. His works are still alive, Napoleon, another great General, carried them round with him, and his history notes have been a great help for mdoer-day historains in recording Roman history.
His legacy, fuelled by the sword, died with the rest of the Roman Empire. Of course, there are still remnants of it (the old Czars in Europe coming from the word Caesar) but in general his writing has lasted longer.
Therefore, the pen is mightier because it cannot be stamped down as easily as the sword.
Nate wrote:And if YWS ever does become a company, Jack will be the President of European Operations. In fact, I'm just going to call him that anyways.
On a note about Caesar, a big part of the reason he became so popular in Rome (though certainly not with all Romans) was because of his books on the Gallic Wars. The campaigns and victories helped a lot, but if he had not written about them, it is doubtful he would've ever become dictator of Rome. The Gallic Wars books back then were kind of like the Harry Potter series today (in terms of popularity).
I definitely think the pen is more mighty.
If you want to make someoen believe you, the pen would probably be more effective. For fighting, the pen is strong because it persuades people without killing or threatening them. Words acan devastate or inspire and have many uses. Whereas, the sword is mostly used for killing or threatening. I am a major fan of medieval times and swords, but I believe the pen is more powerful.
But you can break a pen, it also runs out of ink. You can break a sword too, but that can be repaired, and it's harder. The sword gets blunt, but can be sharpened.
Cause i'm a one man,
I'm a one man,
I'm a one man,
I'm a one man revolution.
Most people are looking at it from to big a scope. See, you're looking at it through history and nation vs nation. Let's try person vs person. Sure, if one person writes something down it can last forever (or as close as possible) but the guy with the sword can just chop the guy with the pen before they get to write anything. Or, the sword guy could chop the pen guy afterward then continue to destroy the writing.
It's like in this book Monsterous Regiment by Terry Pratchett:
"Let's put it this way, you've heard that the pen is mightier than the sword?"
"Of course."
"Do you want to try it out?"
It's just how you look at it. If you look at it all romantically, pen wins. If you look at it practically, sword wins.
So, I don't think I can vote under that basis.
Oh, you're angry! Click your pen.
--Music and Lyrics
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