There are two opposing idioms: the pen is mightier than the sword, and actions speak louder than words. Although as a writer for the Odyssey and a pacifist, I am more inclined to say that the pen is mightier than the sword, I also must say that actions generally speak louder than words.
Actions delineate a person’s character. The action of choosing to write over violence has implications for a person’s personality and disposition. The action of choosing exactly what to write and the motives behind what a person writes says a lot about their character, personality, and disposition.
The truth is that the two idioms are vague enough to seem opposing, but they can be interpreted to not be contradicting at all.
The pen is mightier than the sword because the sword is known to symbolize fighting with another person and utilizing brutish force. A sword was a weapon that was wielded in order to force someone to comply with another person’s demands. A sword was also used to take the unwilling lives of others, but words in stark contrast could make a person more complicit by altering a person’s viewpoint to be in agreement instead of dissent. The pen, symbolizing the ability to communicate ideas, can bring people together by giving them similar mindsets and similar attitudes. The pen can foster unity in the minds of multiple people by putting them on “the same page.” However, a sword divides people because it can literally and figuratively cut ties.
So how can actions speak louder than words yet the pen be mightier than the sword?
Actions have implications for a person’s character more so than the words that they speak. For example, a comedian is not funny because a comedian tells people that he/she is funny; a comedian is funny when he/she causes other people to laugh. If a person told someone else that they were obedient, but that same person never followed orders, then that person is not obedient at all. Sometimes words are used for impression management, and that impression management gives them a marketable face, but not necessarily with the foundation of marketable actions. There is a difference between saying that a person does something and the actual witnessing of that person doing it.
The pen can be mightier than the sword while actions can speak louder than words. In a world filled with impression management, it is difficult to discern what the truth is. Therefore, people search for consistency. They search for consistency either in behavior or communication because consistency proves what patterns are reliable, and reliability is how we define the truth. Actions speak louder than words when actions are consistent.
Just because someone is willing to say something does not make that certain thing true. The thing that is said may just be a maneuver for social capital and impression management. Words can be used to leave specific impressions out of concern for how much influence one person can have over another. Although actions can be used in the same manner, they are more reliable and consistent when discerning the truth. It is easier for people to say something than it is to commit to an action that proves that this “something” is true. Therefore, actions are more reliable for understanding the truth.
