reap what one sows
Actions determine results
To reap what one sows is to experience consequences that match one's actions—good or bad, though usually bad.
The agricultural metaphor is ancient: plant wheat, harvest wheat; plant weeds, harvest weeds.
He cheated his partners for years, and now he's reaping what he sowed.
The phrase implies that outcomes are deserved, not arbitrary.
- just desertsMerited reward or punishment
- karmaSpiritual cause and effect
- what goes around comes aroundActions have matching consequences
- consequenceResult of an action
- outcomeFinal result of events
result · harvest · blowback · accountability · choice · fairness · punishment · reciprocity · cause and effect · justice · divine retribution · sowing · fuck around and find out · yield · retribution · responsibility · intention · reward
reap what one sowsblind luck
Unearned good fortune
luck of the draw · dumb luck · random chance · chance · fate
reap what one sowsget away with murder
Escape punishment for wrongdoing
slip through the cracks · impunity · no good deed goes unpunished