Meaning
A proverb stating that success requires taking risks: if you never attempt anything uncertain, you will never achieve anything worthwhile. It is used both to encourage a bold attempt beforehand and to shrug philosophically after a risk has been taken. Proverbial and mildly sententious; often spoken as a half-joking justification for risk. Regional use: General English.
Origin
First printed, in an early form, in John Heywood's 1546 glossary A Dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe tongue: 'Noght veter noght haue spare to speke spare to spede', roughly 'nothing ventured, nothing had; if you don't speak, you don't advance'. The Phrase Finder notes that Heywood appears to be the first person to print a version of this English proverb and that it may translate a fourteenth-century French saying, 'Qui onques rien n'enprist riens n'achieva' (he who never undertook anything never achieved anything), so the underlying sentiment predates its English print record.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- naught ventured, naught gained
- nothing risked, nothing gained
- nothing ventured
- nought ventured, nought gained
Usage Examples
- I applied for the fellowship even though the odds were long; nothing ventured, nothing gained.
- 'Should we even bid on the old theatre?' 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.'
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained: the small firm pitched boldly and finally landed its first major client.