The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward
Meaning: Greater rewards require greater risks.
Origin: The link between risk and reward is a basic idea of finance. Theodore J. Hoover's The Economics of Mining (1948) described speculation as offering "the hopes of high reward in return for the incurring of high risk," but the proverb form has no traced first use.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: Plus le risque est grand, plus la récompense est grande (literally: The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward)
- Spanish: A mayor riesgo, mayor recompensa (literally: The greater the risk, the greater the reward)
- Japanese: ハイリスク・ハイリターン (Hairisuku hairitān) (literally: High risk, high return)
- German: Wer nicht wagt, der nicht gewinnt (literally: He who does not dare does not win)
More proverbs about Challenge
- Divide and conquer — Achieve dominance by breaking opposition into smaller parts.
- When it rains, it pours — Troubles often come all at once.
- If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen — If you can't handle pressure, leave the situation.
- The road less traveled makes all the difference — Unconventional choices often lead to the most meaningful outcomes.
- He who hesitates is lost — Indecision leads to missed opportunities.
- A gem cannot be polished without friction — Excellence and greatness are only achieved through struggle and hardship.
From our compliments & insults
- Dickkopf — A pig-headed, unyielding person — their skull is so thick no new idea can penetrate it.
- 空気が読めない (kūki ga yomenai) — Completely oblivious to the unspoken social mood — the person who kills the atmosphere wi…
- 눈치가 없다 (nunchi ga eopda) — Hopelessly socially oblivious — can't pick up on emotional cues, awkward silences, or uns…