“The pen is mightier than the sword.”
It’s a well-known sentiment stretching back to the 19th century, first used by English playwright and novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton in his play “Cardinal Richelieu,” telling the story about a clergyman and Richelieu, a politician and chief Minister of Louis X111.
The clergyman, intent on persuading the Minister the true value of the written word over the declaration of war.
Perhaps the play is more memorable for its famous worst sentence ever to start a novel, so bad there is evidently a “bad writing” contest named after him, somewhere in the world.
“It was a dark and stormy night.”
To most readers today, this gaffe would readily be passed over with little care for correct grammar.
After all, it is quite common these days to read books where a conjunction starts a sentence, paragraphs are omitted and infinitives are split like atoms.
But the intent of the sentiment is worth examining in greater depth.
Our World Today
It’s scary, whichever way you face it. To some people, we are well on the way to a Third World War, but to others, we can avoid such a tragedy with objective public relations expressed truthfully and accurately in the media.
Do we want another destructive war, or can skillful negotiations follow the path of the clergyman in the play and advocate peace through meaningful discussion and mutual respect?
Many of us have little confidence in television as a medium leading to peace.
Television works with pictures and headlines. It’s a medium for a world in a hurry.
But the press has far greater appeal for depth and understanding. Lengthy articles and papers written by professional analysts carry far greater weight than guest interviewees on television.
Power of the Press
Whereas television is here one minute, gone the next, the press is here to stay.
We can read, then reread to grasp a better understanding and appreciate the work the author has contributed to our better appreciation of facts, not fabrications.
Bringing the matter back to our home in Israel, we are sadly losing in the war of words.
In simple language we are only small fish in a big ocean.
Just 10 million people in a world of some 8 billion.
At this point in time, in fact since 1948 when the State of Israel was formally declared, we have survived time after time with the sword, despite numerous attempts to negotiate with our adversaries right around our borders.
One has only to scan the internet and read the weight of opinions condemning Israel for unrest in the Middle East and the failure to solve the “Palestinian problem.”
So, to those who criticize Israel for excessive use of warfare against the terrorists trying to destroy us, we suggest you stand back and consider the options.
We all agree, writing is far more preferable than fighting, but when the world sits down and writes such lopsided and ill-formed opinions about us, we are faced with little choice.
The pen can be and should be mightier than sword. When commonsense emerges suppressing nonsense, perhaps the world could be a better place and many more lives could be saved.
