The origin of 'No pain, no gain'

No, it's not a Nike thing but, rather, a coinage of Benjamin Franklin, from his 1758 classic, "The Way to Wealth."

You could look it up in Jill Lepore's superb article in the January 28, 2008 issue of the New Yorker celebrating the 250th anniversary of Franklin's book, which is well worth the time it takes to read it (the article — I can't say I've yet gotten to the book).

Franklin wrote, "No Gains, without Pains."

The book is here, should you wish to read it.

Free — the way we like it.

But then, that's the way to wealth.