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ApictureisworthathousandwordsWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Apictureisworthathousandwords
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Theadage"Apictureisworthathousandwords"referstothenotionthatacomplexideacanbe
conveyedwithjustasinglestillimage,orthatanimageofasubjectconveysit'smeaning/essencemore
effectivelythanadescriptiondoes.Italsoaptlycharacterizesoneofthemaingoalsofvisualization,namely
makingitpossibletoabsorblargeamountsofdataquickly.

History
Theexpression"Useapicture.It'sworthathousandwords."appearsina1911newspaperarticlequoting
newspapereditorArthurBrisbanediscussingjournalismandpublicity.[1]
Asimilarphrase,"OneLookIsWorthAThousandWords",appears
ina1913newspaperadvertisementforthePiquaAutoSupply
HouseofPiqua,Ohio.[2]
Anearlyuseoftheexactphraseappearsinan1918newspaper
advertisementfortheSanAntonioLight,whichsays:
OneoftheNation'sGreatestEditorsSays:
OnePictureisWorthaThousandWords
TheSanAntonioLight'sPictorialMagazineoftheWar
Exemplifiesthetruthoftheabovestatementjudging
fromthewarm
receptionithasreceivedatthehandsoftheSunday
Lightreaders.[3]

1913newspaperadvertisement

ItisbelievedbysomethatthemodernuseofthephrasestemsfromanarticlebyFredR.Barnardinthe
advertisingtradejournalPrinters'Ink,promotingtheuseofimagesinadvertisementsthatappearedonthe
sidesofstreetcars.[4]TheDecember8,1921issuecarriesanadentitled,"OneLookisWorthAThousand
Words."
AnotheradbyBarnardappearsintheMarch10,1927,issuewiththephrase"OnePictureWorthTen
ThousandWords",whereitislabeledaChineseproverb.TheHomeBookofProverbs,Maxims,and
FamiliarPhrasesquotesBarnardassayinghecalledit"aChineseproverb,sothatpeoplewouldtakeit
seriously."Soonafter,theproverbwouldbecomepopularlyattributedtoConfucius.Thediscussionof"One
PictureWorthThousandWords"versus"OnePictureWorthTenThousandWords"WanyenIhuaand
10,000milesworth10,000booksiscitedininformationgraphicswheretheconceptofmanyindifferent
disciplinesandcultures.[5]
Morerecentlyithasbeenquotedas"Oneshowingisworthahundredsayings",[6]andwaspublishedinthat
formasearlyas1966discussingpersuasionandsellinginabookonengineeringdesign.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_picture_is_worth_a_thousand_words

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Despitethismodernoriginofthepopularphrase,thesentimenthas
beenexpressedbyearlierwriters.ForexampletheRussianwriter
IvanTurgenevwrote(inFathersandSonsin1861),"Thedrawing
showsmeatoneglancewhatmightbespreadovertenpagesina
book."[8]
ThequoteissometimesattributedtoNapoleonBonaparte,whosaid
"Unboncroquisvautmieuxqu'unlongdiscours,"or"Agoodsketch
isbetterthanalongspeech".Whilethisissometimestranslated
todayas"Apictureisworthathousandwords,"thistranslationmay
notpredatethephrase'scommonuseinEnglish.
Apictureisworthathousandwords

ComputerprogrammerandauthorFredBrooksmakesanopposite
statementregardingprogramminginTheMythicalManMonth:
"Showmeyourflowchartsandconcealyourtables,andIshallcontinuetobemystified.Showmeyour
tables,andIwontusuallyneedyourflowchartstheyllbeobvious."Thephrasehasalsobeenspoofedby
computerscientistJohnMcCarthy,tomaketheoppositepoint:"AstheChinesesay,1001wordsisworth
morethanapicture."[9]

References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

7.
8.
9.

"SpeakersGiveSoundAdvice".SyracusePostStandard(page18).March28,1911.
"OneLookIsWorthAThousandWords".PiquaLeaderDispatch(page2).August15,1913.
SanAntonioLight(page6).January10,1918.
"Thehistoryofapicture'sworth"(http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~hepting/research/web/words/history.html).
Retrieved20080712.
MglichkeitenundGrenzenderDatenprsentationdurchComputergrafikimUmweltbereich
(http://independent.academia.edu/HeinerBenking/Papers/1775909/Moglichkeiten_und_Grenzen_der_Datenprasenta
tion_durch_Computergrafik_im_Umweltbereich)
Watts,Alan."TheWayofZen(http://books.google.com/books?
id=PMEQKl8CTCgC&pg=PT220&lpg=PT220&dq=%22one+showing+is+worth+a+hundred+sayings%22+zen&
source=bl&ots=sWNYY38EQ7&sig=2e0c3eo30kwK2J93SCYSJbQgG2Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LZoTUvXwGq3I4
APo8ICgDQ&ved=0CGgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=%22one%20showing%20is%20worth%20a%20hundred%20
sayings%22%20zen&f=false)"
ThomasT.Woodson,IntroductiontoEngineeringDesign.McGrawHill,1966Technology&Engineering
434pages
Chapter16:http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/ist/fas.htm#sons}
McCarthy,John."ThesayingsofJohnMcCarthy(1March2007)"(http://www
formal.stanford.edu/jmc/sayings.html).Archived(http://web.archive.org/web/20071014051954/http://www
formal.stanford.edu/jmc/sayings.html)fromtheoriginalon14October2007.Retrieved20071109.

Sources
TheDictionaryofClichsbyJamesRogers(BallantineBooks,NewYork,1985).
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=A_picture_is_worth_a_thousand_words&oldid=674063112"
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Categories: 1911introductions CultureofSyracuse,NewYork Englishproverbs Photography

Visualization(graphic)
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