proverb · Words worth keeping
No pains, no profit.
No pains, no profit.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
A worthwhile result may require effort or difficulty. The saying encourages commitment but overstates the connection if it treats suffering as necessary for every gain.
What the words are saying
Pains and profit are paired as though one always purchases the other. A careful reading can motivate a feasible task that needs sustained work, while distinguishing useful effort from needless harm. Outcomes also depend on resources, support and chance. The phrase does not justify unsafe labour, exploitation or a demand to push through injury. The practical question is what work serves the goal and whether the burden is reasonable.
Everyday example
A group accepts the effort of carefully checking a document because that work helps make the final result useful.
When to use it
Use it to acknowledge reasonable effort toward a worthwhile result.
What it does not mean
Suffering does not guarantee reward, and harmful conditions are not justified by possible benefit.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1206 · Pains
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English