The Pen is Powerful
Happy Holidays! As I contemplate the dismal political scene in this country, I am reminded of a quote from a 19th century suffragette whose name I don’t remember: “Take up your pen and save the world.” Or as Harriet Beecher Stowe said, “It’s a matter of taking the side of the weak against the strong, something the best people have always done.” She did that in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book that helped change this country.
In a google search of quotes on this subject, I found a column on Goodreads.com that features a number of quotes about taking up the pen. Most of them are banal or cynical, but here are a few that echo the quotes above.
“Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.”
― John Adams
“The ink of a pen is simply the blood of a heart”
― Michael Biondi
“The pen is mightier than the sword, if you know where to poke it.”
― Jeremy C. Shipp,
“Your pen is your sword. Wield it wisely.”
― C.A. Simonson
“An inspired stroke of a pen can save or damn the world”
― Bangambiki Habyarimana, Pearls Of Eternity
In continuing along this vein, I found a Wikipedia article by Melvyn Bragg, who wrote Twelve Books That Changed the World, published in 2006. Here’s his list:
• Principia Mathematica (1687) — Isaac Newton
• Married Love (1918) — Marie Stopes
• Magna Carta (1215)
• Book of Rules of Association Football (1863)
• On the Origin of Species (1859) — Charles Darwin
• On the Abolition of the Slave Trade (1789) — William Wilberforce in Parliament, immediately printed in several versions
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) — Mary Wollstonecraft
• Experimental Researches in Electricity (three volumes, 1839, 1844, 1855) by Michael Faraday
• Patent Specification for Arkwright’s Spinning Machine (1769) — Richard Arkwright
• The King James Bible (1611) — William Tyndale and 54 scholars appointed by the king
• An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) — Adam Smith
• The First Folio (1623) — William Shakespeare
Of course many other writings have impacted our lives. I’m reminded of John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique, even Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
Probably you can name books that have changed your own life. I know I can. Maybe a powerful book should be on your holiday gift list for those you love.
Eileen McIntire
Eileen has ridden a camel in the Moroccan Sahara, fished for piranhas on the Amazon, sailed in a felucca on the Nile, and lived for three years on a motorsailer, exploring the coast from Annapolis to Key West. Eileen has many years experience writing, editing and designing all manner of publications for nonprofits and professional associations. She is now co-owner of Summit Crossroads Press, which publishes books for parents, and its fiction imprint, Amanita Books. The inspiration for her 90s Club mystery series springs from meeting a slim, attractive woman at a pool party who was the only one actually in the pool swimming laps, and she was 91 years old. Since then, Eileen has collected articles about people in their 90s—and 100s—who are still active, alert and on the job. She often speaks at retirement villages on “Old Dogs, New Tricks.”