The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

A very good morning to the Madame Speaker, honorable judges,

members from the opposition team, ladies and gentlemen.

The motion for today is , ‘ The pen is mightier than the sword’ . The pen is

defined by as an instrument used for writing to spread news all over the world.

Mightier is defined by a force or power of any kind, whether of body or mind,

energy or intensity of purpose , feeling or action, means or resources to effect

an object. The sword is defined as an offensive weapon, having a long and sharp

blade with cutting edges which is used to harm , hurt and even kill.

The pen. An instrument not given much thought as we go about our daily

business. We don’t think twice about misplacing them, chewing on them or even

borrowing someone else’s pen .

That simple pen has, within it , unimaginable power to change the courses of the

world, to change everything. One only has to pick it up and use it as many has

before. The pen is a simple instrument with the power to communicate ideas

with an epoch- defying and never-ending strength that cannot be denied by the

sword of repression.
The pen is an allegory for ideas, communication, discovery and freedom.

The sword is an allegory for repression, war, destruction and force of will.

Positive vs. Negative, Good vs. Evil, Truth vs. Falsehood, Education vs.

Ignorance, Moral vs. Immoral , these are the battlegrounds of the mighty pen.

Despots and dictators recognizing the power of the pen have even tried to

subjugate its magical ability to sway the masses through the use of propaganda.

Hussein, Hitler, Lenin, Stalin and countless others all throughout man’s history

have attempted and failed to usurp the power of the pen. The pen as an

instrument of truth will not tolerate long its use to spread lies. This truth the

despots and dictators never understood. Despots and dictators alike always

revert to the beguiling, crude and temporary use of the sword only to suffer

ultimate defeat in the war of ideas documented by the pen.

Imagine a world where the power of ideas, the power of the pen, did not prevail

over the sword. Take yourself back to the Middle Ages where the power of the

church was backed by the sword. A time when Kings and kingdoms existed in

fear of Rome and the Pope, the time of discoverers like Galileo.

Pope Paul V and the Cardinals of the inquisition condemned Copernican theory

in which Galileo had based his findings. If there had not been a change in Popes

soon after, and that Pope had been as close minded as Paul V, then history may

have been quite a bit different with other discoveries delayed by the withholding

of Galileo’s works. The power of the pen combined with Galileo’s sharp

intellect won over the day.

Wars, if fought at all, demonstrate the failures of the sword when favored over

the pen. War, is itself, a failure of conviction in ideas that are miss-

communicated by the weak minded and feeble... falling back on the all too handy

but seductive sword.

The subject, The pen is mightier than the sword is intriguing in its breadth.

Potentially covering all recorded history and works of the human mind but I think

it can be condensed down to its elements successfully showing that the pen is

indeed the mightier instrument when allegorically compared to the sword.

In this debate, I intend to demonstrate the power of the pen, by covering the

various and vast battlegrounds in which it has been used.

The pen is an instrument of truth. It can even be compared to one of its modern

equivalents, in that both strive for knowledge and truth - even

though controversial. And both (the pen and the sword) have been

victims of attempted suppression by those that would profit from lies, deceit,

and the sword.

As Edward George Bulwer Lytton quotted, ‘Beneath the rule of men entirely

great, the pen is mightier than the sword’

Thank you.