You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
Meaning: Progress requires sacrifice.
Origin: From the French on ne saurait faire d'omelette sans casser des œufs, recorded by 1742. It reached English in 1796, attributed to the French royalist commander François de Charette. It means that achieving something worthwhile involves some damage along the way.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des œufs (literally: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs)
- Spanish: No se puede hacer tortilla sin romper huevos (literally: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs)
- Japanese: 卵を割らずにオムレツは作れない (Tamago wo warazuni omuretsu wa tsukurenai) (literally: You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs)
- German: Wo gehobelt wird, da fallen Späne (literally: Where planing is done, shavings fall)
More proverbs about Challenge
- What doesn't kill you makes you stronger — Adversity builds resilience and character.
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained — You must take risks to achieve rewards.
- Out of the frying pan, into the fire — Escaping one bad situation only to end up in a worse one.
- The road to success is paved with failure — Success requires learning from mistakes.
- Walk softly and carry a big stick — Act gently but maintain the power to enforce if needed.
- Opportunity knocks but once — Chances don't come twice; seize them when they appear.