Literal translation
money does not come by stamping one's foot
Meaning
money doesn't fall from the sky
Explanation
This saying recalls that money is never obtained without real effort, no matter how much someone wants it or how impatient they are. The word rendered as money literally means ground or soil, used in the common sense of small change, while stamping one's foot evokes the gesture of impatience, of a childish tantrum or fit of anger, someone stamping in the hope of getting something without effort or merit. The verb used for this gesture, well attested, means to strike, to knock, to hammer, stressing the useless violence of the movement against the inertia of the hoped for result. The saying thus contrasts two registers: sterile agitation on one side, and on the other the reality of patient work, the only true means of earning money. It belongs to a tradition of folk wisdom that values concrete effort over the illusion of a magical or instant gain. It is used to remind an impatient person, often a young one, that nothing is gained without pain, in a didactic and somewhat sententious register.