<P> Robert Burton, in 1621, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, stated: "It is an old saying, A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword: and many men are as much galled with a calumny, a scurrilous and bitter jest, a libel, a pasquil, satire, apologue, epigram, stage - play or the like, as with any misfortune whatsoever ." After listing several historical examples he concludes: "Hinc quam sit calamus saevior ense patet", which translates as "From this it is clear how much more cruel the pen may be than the sword ." </P> <P> Thomas Jefferson, on June 19, 1792, ended a letter to Thomas Paine with: "Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword: shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man, and be assured that it has not a more sincere votary nor you a more ardent well - wisher than Y (ou) rs . &c . Thomas Jefferson" </P> <P> The French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte (1769--1821), known to history for his military conquests, also left this oft - quoted remark: "Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets ." He also said: "There are only two powers in the world, saber and mind; at the end, saber is always defeated by mind" ("Il n'y a que deux puissances au monde, le sabre et l'esprit: à la longue, le sabre est toujours vaincu par l'esprit .") </P> <P> Published in 1830, by Joseph Smith, an account in the Book of Mormon related, "the word had a greater tendency to lead the people to do that which was just; yea, it had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword". </P>

Amplification of the pen is mightier than the sword