Interestingly, this phrase appears in various forms across multiple religions. Even more fascinating is a roundabout German saying that conveys nearly the same message, though from a different angle:
Von Nichts, kommt nichts!
A simple and very literal interpretation of the German could be: You can’t make something out of nothing—or simply: Give nothing. Get nothing. Taking it one step further with a more literary approach, we might arrive at: One who gives nothing receives nothing in return. Or better yet: If you sow no seeds, you will never harvest any fruit. I love a metaphorical approach to interpretation. Through it, even a common and almost simplistic German phrase transforms into something more profound, becoming almost as biblical as the initial quote.
- Mark 6:38 ↩
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