The greatest burdens are not the gainfullest.
Meaning: Heavy loads rarely yield profits; exhausting work often produces meager returns.
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 and Japanese
- French: En grand fardeau n’est pas l’acquêt (literally: The greatest burdens are not the gainfullest)
- Japanese: 骨折り損のくたびれ儲け (Honeori-zon no kutabire-mouke) (literally: Toil lost, weariness gained)
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Who more busy than they that have least to do. — Idle people create unnecessary tasks to justify their existence and appear productive.
- Better pay the butcher than the doctor. — Investing in good food prevents illness more cost-effectively than treating disease after…
- Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night. — Fresh butter's nutritional value diminishes with time, rewarding early consumption over d…
- What is a pound of butter amongst a kennel of hounds? — One small gift cannot satisfy many hungry recipients, so generosity loses its value when…
- Once a year butter is in the cow's horn. — Even the poorest circumstances offer occasional abundance if you wait long enough for for…
- He knows on which side his bread is buttered. — Self-interest guides his loyalty; he cultivates favor with those who benefit him most.
From our tongue twisters
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. — The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Tres tristes tigres tragaban trigo en un trigal. — A relentless run on the 'tr' sound.
- Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. — The German 'f' / 'sch' staple.