He must crack the nut that would eat the kernel.
Meaning: Effort and perseverance are necessary prerequisites; you cannot enjoy rewards without enduring the difficult work required to obtain them.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Il faut casser la noix pour manger le noyau (literally: He that would eat the kernel must crack the nut)
- Spanish: El que quiera peces, que se moje el culo (literally: He who wants fish must get his backside wet)
- Japanese: 蒔かぬ種は生えぬ (Makanu tane wa haenu) (literally: Seeds that are not sown do not sprout)
- German: Ohne Fleiß kein Preis (literally: Without diligence, no prize)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- To a crazy ship all winds are contrary. — A disoriented mind finds obstacles everywhere, even when circumstances remain favorable.
- The worst wheel of a cart creaks most. — The most damaged or weakest part of any system draws attention and creates problems dispr…
- Credit lost is a Venice glass broken. — Once trust in your reliability shatters, it cannot be perfectly restored, only roughly me…
- Critics are like brushers of other men's clothes. — Critics remove surface blemishes from others' work while remaining invisible to their own…
- Crosses are ladders for getting to heaven. — Suffering and hardship, like rungs on a ladder, provide the necessary steps toward spirit…
- Crosses are ladders that lead to heaven. — Suffering and hardship, when endured with faith, become the means of spiritual elevation…
From our idioms
- hoist by one's own petard — To be harmed or destroyed by one's own trap or scheme meant to injure someone else.
- sleep with the fishes — To be dead, with one's body disposed of in the ocean or a large body of water.
- Augean stables — An extremely filthy, corrupt, or morally decayed place or situation that seems impossible…