"Before anyone ever hands something to you, first you have to prove to them that you deserve to receive it."
A similar moral, just worded differently:
"Climbing to success is impossible unless you have first built the ladder."
And finally, something more optimistic:
"Life is not a straight line or winding road: life is an ever-turning wheel with you clinging on tightly. Inevitably, you will be taken to the lowest part of the cycle and sometimes progress may seem slow, but be comforted in the fact that the wheel never truly stops turning, and you will always return to the highest point."