Byron: "A Small Drop Of Ink"

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
       Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
      'Tis strange, the shortest letter which man uses
Instead of speech, may form a lasting link
      Of ages.  To what straits old Time reduces
Frail man, when paper, even a rag like this,
Survives himself, his tomb, and all that's his.

--Lord Byron,
Don Juan: 
stanza 88 of Canto III.