Dicho español · Spanish proverb
«Más vale sudar que temblar.»
Word for word
More is worth to sweat than to tremble.
What it really means
The closest English equivalent: Better to sweat than to shiver.
Used to say it's better to work hard and earn your own way than to be idle and suffer poverty or cold.
Hear it in a sentence
Prefiero trabajar en el campo; más vale sudar que temblar.
I'd rather work in the fields; better to sweat than to shiver.
Why learn dichos?
Proverbs like this one are everywhere in spoken Spanish — dropped mid-conversation, usually just the first half, with the rest left for you to complete. Recognizing them is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook and follow real speech. Every Lingocito edition signs off with the dicho del día, so you meet one a day next to news written at your exact level.