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Nothing will come of nothing

You will gain nothing if you invest nothing. This saying is spoken by the title character in the play King Lear, by William Shakespeare. King Lear is telling his daughter Cordelia that she will gain no favors from him if she does not make elaborate speeches saying she loves him.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.