For he that naught n’ assaieth, naught n’ acheveth.

The saying asserts a simple causal link between attempting and accomplishing: without trying (“assaying,” i.e., testing or undertaking), one cannot “achieve.” Its force lies in its blunt, almost legal logic—effort is a prerequisite for success—while the archaic diction gives it the ring of a traditional moral proverb. Read more broadly, it endorses initiative and the willingness to hazard failure as conditions of any meaningful gain. The line’s balanced structure (naught…naught) makes it memorable and lends it an aphoristic authority typical of medieval moral counsel.