You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs

This proverb originated in a country known for making omelettes – France. That being said, the original version referred to pancakes rather than eggs. The earliest example I know of is listed in the OED, in the original French, as “1742 or earlier”:

On ne saurait faire d’omelette sans casser des œufs

The saying was adopted into English soon afterwards. The Dublin-based news-sheet Walker’s Hibernian Magazine published a piece in its May 1786 issue which described the activities of François de Charette.

Charette was a Royalist counter-revolutionary in the French Revolution. It was remarked to him that he had caused the death of a great many persons. Yes, he replied, “omlets are not made without breaking eggs”.

See other ‘You can’t’ proverbs:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink

You can’t have your cake and eat it too

You can’t get blood out of a stone

You can’t get blood out of a turnip

You can’t hold with the hare and run with the hounds

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear

See also: the List of Proverbs.