A picture is worth 1000 words

There is a saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, which means that a complicated idea can sometimes be conveyed by just a single picture.

In the 20^th century, this saying was a catchphrase in advertisements. In March 1911, the Syracuse Advertising Men’s Club held a banquet where an editor made a comment on journalism and publicity, which was “Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words”. Having said that, the contemporary use of this phrase is in general attributed to Frederick R. Barnard, who made an advertisement entitled “One look is worth a thousand words” in 1921. He then rephrased it and issued another advertisement with the phrase “One Picture Worth Ten Thousand Words”, where it was labelled a Chinese proverb.

Of course, we don’t have such a saying in Chinese, but we can say 「百聞不如一見」 to express the meaning of ‘seeing is believing’. Did this saying originate in either America or China? It is indeed a mystery.

In fact, not only English speakers agree with such a sentiment. There is a famous quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, who said “A good sketch is better than a long speech” (Un bon croquis vaut mieux qu’un long discours).