the pen is mightier than the sword
E278081
"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a famous proverb expressing the idea that written words and communication can have more influence than violence or military power.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| the pen is mightier than the sword canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2551825 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the pen is mightier than the sword Context triple: [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, coinedPhrase, the pen is mightier than the sword]
-
A.
PEN
PEN is an international writers’ organization dedicated to promoting literature and defending freedom of expression worldwide.
-
B.
PEN
PEN is the Peruvian sol, the official national currency of Peru.
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C.
A Choice of Weapons
"A Choice of Weapons" is Gordon Parks’s influential autobiographical work in which he reflects on his life, art, and use of the camera as a tool for social change.
-
D.
The Right to Read
"The Right to Read" is a short story by Richard Stallman that warns about the dangers of restrictive digital rights management and the loss of freedoms in a future where sharing digital works is criminalized.
-
E.
Armament for Peace
Armament for Peace was the official motto of the United States Army Ordnance Department, reflecting its mission to develop and supply weapons in support of maintaining peace.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: the pen is mightier than the sword Target entity description: "The pen is mightier than the sword" is a famous proverb expressing the idea that written words and communication can have more influence than violence or military power.
-
A.
PEN
PEN is an international writers’ organization dedicated to promoting literature and defending freedom of expression worldwide.
-
B.
PEN
PEN is the Peruvian sol, the official national currency of Peru.
-
C.
A Choice of Weapons
"A Choice of Weapons" is Gordon Parks’s influential autobiographical work in which he reflects on his life, art, and use of the camera as a tool for social change.
-
D.
The Right to Read
"The Right to Read" is a short story by Richard Stallman that warns about the dangers of restrictive digital rights management and the loss of freedoms in a future where sharing digital works is criminalized.
-
E.
Armament for Peace
Armament for Peace was the official motto of the United States Army Ordnance Department, reflecting its mission to develop and supply weapons in support of maintaining peace.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (39)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
English-language expression
ⓘ
aphorism ⓘ proverb ⓘ |
| category |
proverbs about communication
ⓘ
proverbs about power ⓘ |
| contrasts | intellectual influence with physical force ⓘ |
| conveys |
belief in enduring impact of written words
ⓘ
belief that cultural and political change can be driven by ideas ⓘ |
| emphasizes |
power of communication
ⓘ
power of writing ⓘ |
| hasMeaning | written words and communication can be more influential than violence or military power ⓘ |
| hasStructure | comparative metaphor between pen and sword ⓘ |
| hasTone |
didactic
ⓘ
optimistic about power of communication ⓘ |
| implies | nonviolent methods can be more effective than violent methods ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| metaphorFor |
pen represents writing and communication
ⓘ
sword represents violence and military power ⓘ |
| moral | use intellect and communication rather than violence to effect change ⓘ |
| oftenQuotedIn |
educational contexts
ⓘ
essays ⓘ media commentary ⓘ political speeches ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
education
ⓘ
freedom of expression ⓘ journalism ⓘ literature ⓘ nonviolence ⓘ persuasion ⓘ political writing ⓘ power of ideas ⓘ rhetoric ⓘ |
| suggests | ideas can change society more than weapons ⓘ |
| usedAs |
moral lesson
ⓘ
rhetorical device ⓘ |
| usedInContext |
discussions of free speech
ⓘ
discussions of journalism ⓘ discussions of literature ⓘ discussions of political activism ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: the pen is mightier than the sword Description of subject: "The pen is mightier than the sword" is a famous proverb expressing the idea that written words and communication can have more influence than violence or military power.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.