Why is the Pen mightier than the sword?

At 7.45am this morning while sat at my computer before cycling to the south bank I heard Ann Atkins of BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day. Ann atkins said

“Communicating verbally rather than visually has much to recommend it. Words, used properly, can accurately convey concepts and explain complex ideas. They can persuade with logic and argument. They can change minds and thereby lives. The pen is mightier than the sword, because force can only compel from without, whereas words can convert
from within. No wonder conquering cultures sometimes suppress indigenous tongues; no wonder it’s claimed that all you need to destroy a people is undermine their language. We naturally reign supreme among the animals, with our sophisticated speech. It is even said that without words, there is no memory.”


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