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Who really said it

There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly

Not Pythagoras — actually Terence Terence c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC · Roman comic playwright
Disputed Free to reuse

This is a line from Terence’s Latin comedy Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor, 163 BC), Act IV, scene 6. The young man Clitipho says it: Nullast tam facili’ res quin difficilis siet, quam invitu’ facias. The popular English follows H. T. Riley’s prose translation, which ends “…when you do it with reluctance.” No source ties it to Pythagoras.

Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

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Disputed — copy with the correction

“There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly” Terence, Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor), 163 BC, Act IV, scene 6. Often misattributed to Pythagoras. H. T. Riley's translation reads: "There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance."

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Evoking the world of Terence — Roman comic playwright (Publius Terentius Afer). Theme: "There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

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Provenance

Where the line actually comes from

Work
Heauton Timorumenos (The Self-Tormentor)
Passage
Act IV, scene 6 — Clitipho, to himself (Latin lines 805–806)
Original
Latin verse comedy, 163 BC
Translation
Henry Thomas Riley, literal prose (Harper & Brothers, New York, 1896 printing)

There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance. As this walk of mine, for instance, though not fatiguing, it has reduced me to weariness. Act IV, scene 6

Riley’s translation. The Latin reads Nullast tam facili’ res quin difficilis siet, / quam invitu’ facias. The popular version changes Riley’s “with reluctance” to “reluctantly.” John Sargeaunt’s 1912 Loeb translation instead has “when you do it against the grain.”

The Comedies of Terence, tr. H. T. Riley (Project Gutenberg)

How we traced it

  • The Latin is in Terence’s Heauton Timorumenos, Act IV, scene 6, where Clitipho says Nullast tam facili’ res quin difficilis siet, quam invitu’ facias (lines 805–806) — The Latin Library text ↗
  • H. T. Riley’s literal prose translation reads “There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance” — Project Gutenberg, The Comedies of Terence ↗
  • John Sargeaunt’s 1912 Loeb translation words it differently: “Nothing is so easy but it is difficult when you do it against the grain” — Internet Archive scan ↗
  • Wikiquote lists the line among those misattributed to Pythagoras and credits it to Terence’s Heauton Timoroumenos — Wikiquote: Pythagoras ↗
Public domain

The Latin original dates from 163 BC. The English shown is H. T. Riley’s translation, as printed by Harper & Brothers in 1896, which is long in the US public domain. The popular “reluctantly” version changes one phrase of that translation. We have not found where that exact variant was first printed.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

Why Pythagoras gets the credit

Quote sites often put this line under Pythagoras. It is a short, wise-sounding maxim, the kind that collects around a famous ancient name. It comes from a Roman comedy written about three centuries after Pythagoras.

Pythagoras Misattributed

Wikiquote lists the line among those misattributed to Pythagoras and gives Terence’s Heauton Timoroumenos as the real source (Wikiquote ↗). GraciousQuotes marks it “Disputed” and says no source in Pythagoras’s writings or recorded words is known (GraciousQuotes ↗).

J. Sargeaunt (1912) Mis-worded

One quotation site gives the “reluctantly” wording with a credit to Sargeaunt’s 1912 translation (WIST ↗). Sargeaunt’s 1912 Loeb edition actually says “against the grain” (Internet Archive ↗). The closest published match to the popular wording is Riley’s “with reluctance.”

The line is Terence’s, spoken by Clitipho in The Self-Tormentor, Act IV, scene 6 (Latin text ↗). The popular English follows H. T. Riley’s translation (Project Gutenberg ↗).

Context

The scene behind the saying

In the play, the line is a complaint, not advice. Clitipho, son of Chremes, is in love with the courtesan Bacchis. He has been sent off on a walk he did not want to take, and he grumbles to himself that even an easy errand is hard when you do it unwillingly. Riley’s translation goes on: “As this walk of mine, for instance, though not fatiguing, it has reduced me to weariness.”

Lifted out of the scene, the remark reads like a general maxim, and as a maxim it was later pinned on Pythagoras.

Nullast tam facili’ res quin difficilis siet, quam invitu’ facias.

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Filed under

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Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Wikiquote: Pythagorasen.wikiquote.org

Lists this line as misattributed and credits it to Terence's Heauton Timoroumenos
Wikiquote: Terenceen.wikiquote.org

Gives the line under Heauton Timorumenos, Act IV, scene 6, line 1 (805)
The Comedies of Terence, tr. H. T. Rileygutenberg.org

Full public-domain English prose translation that contains the passage
Heauton Timorumenos (Latin text)thelatinlibrary.com

The Latin original; Clitipho's lines 805–806
Terence, tr. John Sargeaunt (Loeb, 1912)archive.org

Scan of the 1912 Loeb volume containing The Self-Tormentor
Heauton Timorumenosen.wikipedia.org

Background on the play: its date (163 BC), its Menander original and its characters

The author

About Terence

Terence

c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC · Roman comic playwright (Publius Terentius Afer)

Publius Terentius Afer was a Roman writer of comedies. Ancient authors say he was born in Carthage and brought to Rome as a slave, where he was educated and later freed. The Self-Tormentor (163 BC) is one of his six surviving plays. Like most of them, it was adapted from a Greek comedy by Menander.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source (in translation)

Terence. Heautontimorumenos; or, the Self-Tormentor, act 4, scene 6. In The Comedies of Terence, translated by Henry Thomas Riley. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1896.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/there-is-nothing-so-easy-but-that-it-becomes-difficult-when/

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