ProverbMoralityAmerican origin20th c.

What goes around comes around

Meaning: Your actions will eventually return to affect you.

Origin: An American expression thought to have grown out of African-American speech in the mid-20th century. Its earliest known appearance in print is in a 1974 book by Eddie Stone, and it spread widely in the 1970s. It is often compared to karma, though it has no direct link to Hindu or Buddhist teaching.

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 7 more languages

  • French: On récolte ce que l'on sème (literally: You reap what you sow)
  • Spanish: Lo que siembras, cosechas (literally: What you sow, you harvest)
  • Japanese: 因果応報 (Inga ōhō) (literally: Cause and effect retribution)
  • German: Wie man in den Wald hineinruft, so schallt es heraus (literally: As one calls into the forest, so it echoes back)
  • Italian: Chi la fa l'aspetti (literally: Whoever does it should expect it back)
  • Portuguese: Cá se fazem, cá se pagam (literally: Here they're done, here they're paid for)
  • Dutch: Wie kaatst, moet de bal verwachten (literally: Whoever hits the ball must expect it back)
  • Russian: Как аукнется, так и откликнется (Kak auknetsya, tak i otkliknetsya) (literally: As you call into the woods, so it echoes back)
  • Polish: Jak Kuba Bogu, tak Bóg Kubie (literally: As Kuba treats God, so God treats Kuba)
  • Chinese: 善有善报,恶有恶报 (Shàn yǒu shàn bào, è yǒu è bào) (literally: Good is repaid with good, evil with evil)
  • Arabic: كما تدين تدان (Kamā tadīnu tudān) (literally: As you treat others, you will be treated)
  • Turkish: Ne ekersen onu biçersin (literally: You reap whatever you sow)

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