Proverbs and sayings are popular nuggets of wisdom, often in circulation for centuries and even millenniums. This post contains proverbs and sayings on hard work, divided into four categories.
If you’re looking for more proverbs and sayings, you can find plenty of them in the resource below. It contains proverbs on topics such as life, family, friends, love, health, happiness, money, hard work, time, time management, teamwork, leadership, business, education & learning, and more.
1. Hard work is necessary for success
Without perseverance, talent is a barren bed.
Talent alone won’t take you far. Every field – sports, art, or business – has a graveyard of exceptional talent that failed to put in the hard yards.
Example: Your design talent alone isn’t enough. You’ve to work hard, deliver several projects, and get noticed. Without perseverance, talent is a barren bed.
Diligence is the mother of good luck.
Luck isn’t divine; it can be created through diligent work.
Example: He hasn’t built his business on luck. He has worked hard every which way and has stayed on top of market trends. Diligence, after all, is the mother of good luck.
Opportunities don’t just happen, you create them.
Opportunities – of any kind, and not just employment – don’t happen just like that. You create them when you move out of your comfort zone, meet people, learn new skills, and so on.
Example: I landed this job by hustling a lot to land an interview and then preparing as best as I could. Opportunities don’t just happen, you create them.
Opportunities look for you when you are worth finding.
It’s a variant of the last proverb. If you’re well-prepared, which comes from putting in the hard yards, opportunity will find you.
Example: A friend asked me if I can host a regular talk show for an educational institution. I’m a skilled host and was relatively free at that time, so I took the opportunity. Opportunities look for you when you are worth finding.
Future is purchased by present.
Your actions in the present shape your future. This proverb is directed towards those who daydream of a pleasurable future without taking not-so-pleasurable action in the present. Act. That’s how you make future.
Example: I’m putting in the work now to grow my website. Future is purchased by present.
For want of a nail the shoe is lost, for want of a shoe the horse is lost, for want of a horse the rider is lost.
An insignificant nail resulted in the loss of the rider. Small things can have huge implications. So, don’t ignore nuances and minute details. They’re the ones that stand people out.
Example: Because of malfunction in a tiny component, the entire lot of 120,000 air conditioners had to be recalled. For want of a nail the shoe is lost… the rider is lost.
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The longest way around is the shortest way home.
If you want to achieve the desired quality, work diligently and carefully and not cut corners.
Example: The earlier software contractor wrote a bloated, shoddy code that now needs to be rewritten. It should have been done more thoughtfully. The longest way around is the shortest way home.
He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.
A person who aspires to reach top of the ladder must take action and start climbing from the very bottom.
Example: You’re a recent graduate, and I would advise you to get as much hands-on experience as you can in your profession. He who would climb the ladder must begin at the bottom.
You won’t learn to swim on the kitchen floor.
Staying on the kitchen floor won’t make you a swimmer. You need to act (go to a water body and practice) to accomplish something.
Example: You need to step out and exercise if you want to lose weight. You won’t learn to swim on the kitchen floor.
The next seven proverbs are similar in meaning to the last proverb.
Wishes won’t wash dishes.
If you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the raffle.
Do not believe that you will reach your destination without leaving the shore.
He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree.
He who would search for pearls must dive below.
Footprints on the sands of time are not made by sitting down.
He, who would leap for, must first take a long run.
So far, we’ve seen that we must work hard to achieve success, but most would want success with little to no effort. The next two proverbs go into this.
All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.
People want money, fame, and success without putting in the required work.
Example: You want a high-paying job without learning a valued skill. All cats love fish but hate to get their paws wet.
Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.
Similar in meaning to the last one
2. Hard work is necessary but not sufficient
In the last section, we saw the importance of hard work in achieving success, but sometimes we need to do more.
You cannot break through a wall with your forehead.
You can’t break through a wall with your forehead no matter how many times you bang it. Sometimes, you need more than hard work. You need to think differently, creatively. You need to analyse why things aren’t working.
Example: There are umpteen stories of innovations and startup success where people took a step back and changed their approach to the problem at hand. Sometimes, you can’t break through a wall with your forehead.
If you can’t go over, you must go under.
Similar to the last one
The most difficult mountain to cross is threshold.
On rare occasions, the task may be so challenging that you may not even muster the will to work at it. This Danish proverb is for such occasions.
When attempting anything challenging, we often struggle to muster the self-belief that we can achieve the goal. Roger Bannister’s mile-run in 1954 is the most classical example of this. Running a mile under four minutes was considered beyond human capability till Roger Bannister pulled it off on 06 May 1954. But that’s not the full story. Within weeks of this feat, another runner, an Australian named John Landy, broke the four-minute barrier. Within three years, seventeen runners matched one of the greatest sporting feats of twentieth century. Nothing changed in those three years: same gear, same tracks, and same coaching methods. And yet…. What changed was self-belief among athletes that a mile can be run under four minutes after that barrier was breached by Roger Bannister. So, the most difficult mountain to cross is threshold (or limit) you’ve set for yourself.
Example: A team of mountaineers finally summitted K2 in winter for the first time in 2020, and we’ll see many more such summits in near future. The most difficult mountain to cross is threshold.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Those who complain a lot get what they want. The proverb may sound little negative, but it can be interpreted in a positive way too. Have you seen people who talk about their work and market themselves well? We may begrudge them and dismiss them as immodest, but they’re the ones who’re more likely to be at the top of mind of people who matter, which can only help. Working hard is fine and good, but one should also learn to market oneself.
Example: Tom is envied by many in our Company by his ability to market himself through speaking engagements, writings, and networking. Little wonder, he is also one of the first to be noticed when getting staffed on important projects. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
3. Hard work = Little work every day
Hard work isn’t delivered in few gigantic waves. It usually comes in non-glamorous, every-day, little work that accumulates to gigantic proportion over time. Here are few proverbs in this regard.
Little by little one goes far.
You can accomplish big goals by taking small steps.
Example: Tom wrote a 60,000-word first draft of his book in just two months by writing 1,000 words every day.
The next six proverbs are similar in meaning to the last proverb.
Constant dripping wears away the stone.
Little chips light great fires.
Little strokes fell great oaks.
One meal won’t make a fat man.
It takes more than one cold day for the river to freeze three feet deep.
Great oaks from little acorns grow.
4. Others
Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest.
We think that we work the hardest. This is also called responsibility bias: People tend to overvalue their own contributions and undervalue contributions of others.
Example: Tom: You’re questioning my contribution! I’m the one who has worked the hardest on this project. I haven’t taken a day’s leave in six months. Jerry: Every horse thinks its own pack heaviest.
