NO PAIN, NO GAIN IN SPANISH

Sometimes language gives the lie to long-standing misconceptions about people. English-speaking cultures have often stereotyped Hispanics as lazy, indolent, or slothful, while tending to see themselves as hardworking and grit-driven—people who make the effort, go the extra mile, and endure pain and hardship to attain a goal. No pain, no gain has long functioned as a kind of Anglo-Saxon battle cry.

And yet, upon closer examination of language, a rather different picture emerges. Spanish possesses a richer store of expressions and idiomatic phrases conveying the ideas of perseverance, resilience, and the overcoming of obstacles through sustained effort and grit. In this respect, linguistic evidence quietly undermines cultural cliché.

See for yourselves: 

medicina que pica, cura (sana) 
el que algo quiere, algo le cuesta 
no hay atajo sin trabajo 
no hay miel sin hiel
el que quiere celeste que le cueste 
no hay barranco sin atranco
no hay vida sin fatiga
el que no se arriesga no gana 
el que quiere marrones 
que aguante tirones
culo sentado no gana bocado 
lo que vale, algo cuesta