nothing ventured nothing gained

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a proverbial statement that worthwhile rewards are only attainable if one is willing to accept the risk of failure or loss associated with attempting to obtain them; the phrase encodes a fundamental truth about expected value: that the option with zero downside risk — doing nothing — also has zero upside; as an encouragement to action it is among the oldest and most universal proverbs in English, with equivalents in nearly every language; its relevance to investment, entrepreneurship, and personal development reflects the deep human truth that passivity and risk-avoidance guarantee stagnation