No pain, no gain
Meaning: You must work hard to achieve results.
Origin: The idea is old: the rabbinic Ethics of the Fathers teaches that the reward is in proportion to the effort, and Robert Herrick's Hesperides (1648) has a two-line poem titled "No Paines, no Gaines." The clipped modern slogan became famous through Jane Fonda's workout videos of the 1980s.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: On n'a rien sans rien (literally: You get nothing without nothing)
- Spanish: No hay ganancia sin dolor (literally: There is no gain without pain)
- Japanese: 苦あれば楽あり (Ku areba raku ari) (literally: If there is suffering, there is ease)
- German: Ohne Fleiß kein Preis (literally: Without diligence, no prize)
More proverbs about Challenge
- When the going gets tough, the tough get going — Strong people don't give up when faced with challenges.
- When life gives you lemons, make lemonade — Make the best of a bad situation.
- Necessity is the mother of invention — Difficult situations inspire creative solutions.
- Fortune favors the bold — Taking risks often leads to rewards.
- Strike while the iron is hot — Act quickly when the opportunity presents itself.
- If you can't beat them, join them — If you can't win against something, align with it.
From our idioms
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.