Great pain and little gain make a man soon weary.

Understand the thought

Meaning in plain English

Sustained effort with little useful return can wear down motivation. The saying draws attention to the relationship between work and reward, without proving that a difficult task is worthless or that exhaustion shows weak character.

What the words are saying

Great pain means substantial effort or difficulty, and little gain means a limited result from it. The proverb describes how that imbalance may make continuing feel burdensome. Its point is not that every task must offer an immediate benefit: learning, care and preparation can have value that appears slowly or is not easily counted. A useful response asks why the work is so demanding, what it achieves and whether its method, scope or support can change. Sometimes continuing is worthwhile; sometimes a pause or a different arrangement is needed. The saying should open that assessment rather than become a judgement on a tired person.

Everyday example

A volunteer group finds a weekly task consumes most of its meeting without improving the service, then tests a simpler method and redistributes the work.

When to use it

Use it when examining why an effort feels unsustainable in relation to its results.

Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗

Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.