In the whole world one pays the toll — nobody goes through life without cost. Every road, every choice, every pleasure has its price. There is no free passage.
The pedagi (toll) was a fact of life on every road and bridge in the Piedmontese landscape. The Alpine passes were tolled; the Po bridges were tolled; the city gates took their duty. Before the era of free roads, moving through the world meant paying at every junction. This physical reality became a metaphor for the general condition of human life: every stage, every advancement, every pleasure has its toll. The proverb is not pessimistic but clear-eyed: knowing that you will pay the toll, you can budget for it. The person who is surprised by the toll — who expected the road to be free — is a fool. The wise person pays the toll, passes through, and continues on their way without complaint.
Piedmontese proverb rooted in the physical reality of tolled roads and bridges that characterised movement through the Alps and the Piedmontese plain from antiquity to the modern era.
A Piedmontese father on the costs of ambition
— Vuoi diventare medico. — Bene. A tütt al mond a s'paga al pedagi — sei anni di medicina, tre di specializzazione. Lo sai?
— You want to become a doctor. — Good. In the whole world one pays the toll — six years of medicine, three of specialisation. Do you know that?
A Torinese entrepreneur after a difficult but successful year
È stato un anno durissimo. Ma a tütt al mond a s'paga al pedagi — adesso l'azienda vale dieci volte di prima.
It was a very hard year. But in the whole world one pays the toll — now the company is worth ten times what it was.
A Piedmontese grandmother on age
I capelli bianchi, il mal di schiena, gli occhiali — a tütt al mond a s'paga al pedagi. In cambio ho ottant'anni di ricordi meravigliosi.
White hair, backache, glasses — in the whole world one pays the toll. In return I have eighty years of wonderful memories.
A Turin artist on the price of a creative life
Ho guadagnato poco per vent'anni per fare quello che amavo. A tütt al mond a s'paga al pedagi — e non mi pento di un giorno.
I earned little for twenty years to do what I loved. In the whole world one pays the toll — and I do not regret a single day.