no pain, no gain

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• no pains, no gains

Proverb

no pain, no gain

1. One must be willing to endure some inconvenience or discomfort in order to achieve worthwhile goals.

Usage notes

• Phrases with the same construction are common and productive. See the related terms below.

Synonyms

• (one must endure inconvenience): nothing ventured, nothing gained

Related terms

• no cross, no crown
• no effort, no result
• no harm, no foul

Translations

discomfort is necessary to achieve goals

• Arabic: مَنْ طَلَبَ العُلا سَهِرَ الليالي, (who wants to reach the heights, stays awake at nights)
• Bulgarian: без мъка няма сполука (without effort there is no success)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不入虎穴，焉得虎子 (bú rù hǔxué, yāndé hǔzǐ) (If you don't enter the tiger's den, how will you get the tiger's cub?)

• Czech: bez práce nejsou koláče (without work no cakes)
• Dutch: voor iets hoort iets
• Estonian: Kes kannatab, see kaua elab
• Finnish: vaikeuksien kautta voittoon
• French: qui ne risque rien n'a rien (fr) (who risks nothing, gains nothing)
• German: ohne Fleiß kein Preis (without diligence there's no reward)
• Greek: τα αγαθά κόποις κτώνται (el) (ta agathá kópois któntai)
• Hebrew: הזורעים בדמעה, ברינה יקצורו
• Hungarian: mindenért meg kell szenvedni
• Icelandic: enginn verður óbarinn biskup
• Italian: per apparire bisogna soffrire (to appear you must suffer), chi non risica non rosica (who doesn't risk doesn't gnaw)
• Japanese: 苦は楽の種 (くはらくのたね, ku wa raku no tane) (cares are the seeds of ease)/虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず (​koketsu ni irazunba koji o ezu)(If you don't enter the tiger's den, how will you get the tiger's cub?)
• Korean: 불입호혈 부득호자 (不入虎穴 不得虎子, bul-ib-ho-hyeol bu-deug-ho-ja), 호혈호자 (虎穴虎子, ho-hyeol-ho-ja)

• Latin: qui arat olivetum, rogat fructum (he who plows the olive-yard, invites crops), qui stercorat, exorat (he who mucks, prevails upon), qui caedit, cogit (he who cuts to pieces, gathers)
• Persian: نابرده رنج گنج میسر نمی شود
• Polish: bez pracy nie ma kołaczy (pl) (no work, no cake)
• Portuguese: sem dor, sem ganho
• Russian: без труда не вытащишь и рыбку из пруда (bez trudá ne výtaščiš' i rýbku iz prudá) (without effort you cannot even pull a fish from the pond), терпи казак, атаманом будешь (terpí kazák, atamánom búdeš') (bear this, Cossack, and you’ll be an ataman), кто не рискует, тот не пьёт шампанское (kto ne riskújet, tot ne p'jot šampánskoje) (who doesn't risk, doesn't drink champagne) лес рубят — щепки летят (ru) (les rubjat — ščepki letjat) (When the wood is cut, the chips fly)
• Scottish Gaelic: am fear nach dèan cur rè latha fuar, cha dèan e buain rè latha teth, gheibh cearc an sgrìobain rudeigin, chan fhaigh cearc a' chrùbain dad idir
• Serbo-Croatian: без муке нема науке, bez muke nema nauke
• Spanish: sin dolor no hay ganancia
• Swedish: vill man vara fin, får man lida pin (if one wants to be fancy, one will have to suffer)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Vilamovian: wor ny at, gejt under dy ad

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, ISBN 0-679-44554-4, p. 252.