No rose without a thorn

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Meaning

Even the most attractive opportunity or pleasant circumstance has some drawback, difficulty, or pain. More literary than every rose has its thorn. It usually acknowledges a specific drawback. Regional use: Late Middle English proverb; now literary and international.

Origin

The contrast between a rose and its thorn is ancient, but English reference works record no rose without a thorn as a late Middle English proverb. It turns the flower's beauty and fragrance into a general lesson that pleasure is rarely free of difficulty. The related every rose has its thorn is a later rewording, not the medieval citation itself.

Research Sources

  1. Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: rose Oxford University Press via Encyclopedia.com
  2. Cognitive Contact Linguistics Cambridge University Press

Variants

  • Every rose has its thorn

Usage Examples

  • The cottage is beautiful but costly to heat: no rose without a thorn.
  • Her promotion brought a longer commute: no rose without a thorn.
  • The festival's success created mountains of paperwork; no rose without a thorn.

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