Looking for a spark of inspiration? These 10 pen quotes by famous writers and thinkers will remind you of the incredible power of the written word. Whether you’re feeling lost or just love pens, these wise words will reignite your passion for writing. You might also enjoy our handwriting tips and tricks.
10 Inspirational Pen Quotes That Show the Power of Writing
Table of Contents
1. Paul Simon
You want to be a writer, but you don’t know how or when. Find a quiet place; use a humble pen.
Lyrics from Hurricane Eye by Paul Simon (2000 studio album You’re the One).
2. Gaston Bachelard
How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream.
From Gaston Bachelard’s 1960 work The Poetics of Reverie.
3. George Denison Prentice
The pen is a formidable weapon, but a man can kill himself with it a great deal more easily than he can other people.
Quoted from Prenticeana: Or, Wit and Humor in Paragraphs by George Denison Prentice, editor of the Louisville Journal in the mid-19th century.
4. Graham Greene
My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.
From a 1977 interview with the International Herald Tribune, Greene shared his personal connection to the fountain pen.
5. Mitch Hedberg
I bought a $7 pen because I always lose pens and I got sick of not caring.
A joke from Hedberg’s stand-up routine. He even wrote a fan letter to Uniball asking for a sponsorship.
6. Voltaire
To hold a pen is to be at war.
From a 1748 letter by Voltaire to Jeanne-Grâce Bosc du Bouchet. He echoed the sentiment again to his niece Marie Mignot.
7. Thomas Jefferson
Go on then in doing with your pen what in other times was done with the sword: shew that reformation is more practicable by operating on the mind than on the body of man…
Jefferson wrote this in 1792 to Thomas Paine, showing the early roots of the “pen is mightier than the sword” idea.
8. Billy Collins
The pen is an instrument of discovery rather than just a recording implement…
From a 2001 interview with George Plimpton in the Paris Review. Collins was a former U.S. Poet Laureate.
9. Oscar Neimeyer
I pick up my pen. It flows. A building appears. There it is. There is nothing more to say.
Quote from a 2007 interview with The Guardian. Niemeyer was a Brazilian modernist architect.
10. Petrarch
There is no lighter burden, nor more agreeable, than a pen… it has the power to advantage not only its lord and master, but many others as well…
Written by Petrarch in a letter to Giovanni Boccaccio. A timeless quote about writing’s lasting influence.
Final Thoughts on the Power of the Pen
These pen quotes prove that the written word can shape ideas, change minds, and inspire generations. Which quote spoke to you most? Let us know in the comments below — or better yet, pick up a pen and write something today!