Faint heart never won a fair lady.
Meaning: Romantic success requires courage; passive timidity guarantees failure in matters of love.
Origin: Current in English by the 16th century; William Camden recorded it in 1614. It urges suitors to be bold, and Gilbert and Sullivan turned it into a comic song in Iolanthe (1882).
Equivalents in French, Spanish, and Japanese
- French: Jamais honteux n’eut belle amie (literally: Faint heart never won fair lady)
- Spanish: Quien no se arriesga, no pasa la mar (literally: He who takes no risk does not cross the sea)
- Japanese: 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず (Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu) (literally: If you do not enter the tiger's den, you will not get the tiger cub)
More proverbs about Perseverance
- Keeping from falling is better than helping up. — Prevention of harm requires less effort and causes less suffering than recovery from it.
- A famine in England begins at the horse-manger. — Poor grain management for livestock presages broader scarcity throughout the land.
- Every one puts his fault on the times. — People habitually blame circumstances and bad luck rather than acknowledging their own re…
- Have but few friends, though many acquaintances. — Quality relationships require intentional investment; shallow connections can be numerous…
- Get thy spindle and thy distaff ready, and God will send thee flax. — Prepare your tools and skills; opportunity arrives only for those already equipped to sei…
- A May flood never did good. — Spring floods destroy crops and infrastructure before harvest, making their destructive p…
From our idioms
- salga el sol por donde quiera — It does not matter what happens or what difficulties arise; one will accept whatever come…
- darse de cabezadas — To struggle uselessly against an impossible problem or obstacle.
- poner la proa — To set one's aim or course deliberately toward something; to target or pursue.