“No Pains, No Gains.”- Connor’s Corner

By Connor Danz, Creative Editor

That is the magical four word expression that I have lived everyday of my life by for the last seventeen years. 

On the surface, it sounds like a quaint motivational phrase to help someone get through a rather challenging physical task. To be honest, this was exactly the way I used it for the majority of the time I’ve employed that phrase. That is until recently, when I decided to sit down and contemplate the deeper philosophical ideas behind this phrase. To understand something, you have to go back to where it began…

While I would argue this idea is much older, the first usage of the phrase was by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, who expressed this idea in his work “The Ethics of the Fathers” — “Pirkei Avot” in Hebrew — in which he states, “According to the pain is the reward.” This is what many interpret as a spiritual lesson, trying to convey the idea that there is inherently a pain in doing what God commands you to do. As a Catholic, I find this quite interesting, as it mirrors many of the things that Jesus taught and the messages he was trying to get across. That is picking up your crosses, your burdens and following him, seeking the kingdom of God first and foremost, with all of your necessities being added on to you.

Religious parallels aside, the earliest time we see this phrase take its modern form is in the writings of  British poet Robert Herrick, in “Hesperides”, he writes in a short poem titled No Pains, No Gains, “If little labor, little are our gains: Man’s fate is according to his pains.”

Once more, I am taken aback by what a profound statement that “Man’s fate is according to his pains.” Again, it follows along the same lines of some of the teachings of Christ highlighted earlier. Along with that, I also believe it may cast a light upon something that is unspoken of in our society today. As we advance, we eliminate numerous problems in our day to day lives, though our society gets more depressed, anxious and addicted to vices like drugs, alcohol and pornography. All of these are simply pitiful substitutes for the only thing that is actually meaningful, pain. The pain of living, the pain of overcoming obstacles and the pain of gaining a real feeling of success.

I’m glad I found some time to reflect on those words that I had been saying for so long, as now I have a much deeper grasp than I originally had.

God bless!