Who First Said "The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword"?

Alison Gee at the BBC News reports on the author of the phrase "The pen is mightier than the sword."

Tribute cartoons to the journalists at Charlie Hebdo compare pencils with guns, writers with fighters - it's also why some demonstrators are holding pens and pencils in the air. Many of the cartoons assert that "the pen is mightier than the sword". But where does this idea originate?

The English words "The pen is mightier than the sword" were first written by novelist and playwright Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30729480?ocid=global_bbccom_email_09012015_magazine