Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Proverb ·209 of 348
"No pain, no gain."
They never said that.
What people say
"No pain, no gain."
What was actually said
"There are no gains without pains." Benjamin Franklin — Poor Richard's Almanack (1745)
Why it stuck
Franklin used the fuller form. The four-word gym version is a 1980s aerobics coinage (often credited to Jane Fonda's 1982 workout record), carrying Franklin's sentiment but not his syntax.
The 17th-century English poet Robert Herrick used "No pains, no gains" in 1648 — earlier still. Franklin was reviving, not inventing.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.