Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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proverb
If one takes no risks, one cannot gain (i.e., has no hope of gaining) any benefits.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Synonyms: no guts, no glory, no pain, no gain
Antonyms: none provided
History
Attested since 1546 in a book of English proverbs by John Heywood (see quotation below). Perhaps translated from or influenced by French Qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'achieva (“One who never undertook anything never gained anything”). Though a translation, a similar phrase of "Nothing ventured, nothing have." appears in Sir George Dasent's translation of the Icelandic text "The Saga of the Burnt Njal" (events occurring between 960 and 1020 A.D.), suggesting it may have gone back much further. However, certain translations of Herodotus 7.9 include "if nothing is ventured in life, then nothing is gained". Suggesting either the phrase or something similar stretches to even before 960AD.
