According to the well-known proverb, the pen is mightier than what?

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a figure of speech allegedly coined by the English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) in 1839. It means that communication is more effective than violence. Bulwer-Lytton first used the phrase in his play 'Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy'. The play is about the life of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642), a French clergyman.

Some claim that Bulwer-Lytton was not the first person to use the phrase because there are several similar sentences in historical literature. The 'Teachings of Ahiqar', for example, dating to about 500 BCE, states, "The word is mightier than the sword."

The Bible also quotes something along these lines: "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Thomas Paine in 1792, finished by saying, "Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword."

The phrase was adopted as the motto of gold pen manufacturer Levi Willcutt and the 'Waikato Times' newspaper in New Zealand. Woodrow Wilson used the adage in his 1916 U.S. Presidential campaign and it was quoted in two films of 1989: 'Batman' and 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.