You wouldn’t think a disposable Bic could rival a high carbon steel Claymore, but according to English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword. While the line itself is world-famous, the play it’s from (Richelieu) isn’t so well-known nowadays.

The line is spoken by Cardinal Richelieu himself, chief minister to King Louis XIII, after he discovers a plot to kill him, but as a priest, he is unable to take up arms against his enemies.

However mighty these words may be, Bulwer-Lytton wasn’t technically the first to write them. The first known version of this popular phrase was coined in the early 7th century BC by Assyrian sage, Ahiqar. It read, “The word is mightier than the sword”, which arguably has a better ring to it.