“Everyone wants happiness. No one wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain”

“Everyone/Everybody wants happiness. No one/Nobody wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain” is a rhyming verse that has been printed on many images. The authorship is uncertain.
 
“You can’t have the rainbow without the rain” was cited in at least three different 1929 newspapers; in one newspaper, it was the title of a Fanny Brice song. The saying means that the “good” comes with the “bad” (such as hard work). 
 
“You’d never have a rainbow without a little rain” was printed in a 1998 book. This verse “If I Should Give You Rainbows” (2000) by David Pawson:
 
“If I should give you rainbows, I’d have to give you rain:
There’s never any good that comes, without a little pain.
Though there seems so much to lose, there’s so much more to gain;
You’ll never have a rainbow, without a little rain.”
   
“Everyone wants happiness but without any pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain” was cited in print in 2008. “‘Everyone wants happiness, No one wants pain, But you can’t have a rainbow, Without a little rain’ — Zion Lee” was posted on Twitter on May 27, 2010, but the lack of any credit before 2010 makes it unlikely that Zion Lee is the author.
       
 
Old Fulton NY Post Cards
18 January 1929, Yonkers (NY) Statesman, “Entwhistle To Play Over Radio Tomorrow,” pg. 10, col. 5:
... Dr. Paul Mansfield Spencer, pastor of the church, will speak on “You Can’t Have the Rainbow Without the Rain.”
 
3 March 1929, Washington (DC) Post, “Ten Rules for Good Behavior.” by Dorothy A. Lausen, Junior Post sec., pg. 1, col. 4:
1. Keep smiling. “When the clouds are blackest, remember you can not have the rainbow without the rain.”
 
13 April 1929, Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat pg. 4, col. 5 ad:
Victor Records
FANNY BRICE’S NUMBERS
“You Can’T Have the Rainbow Without the Rain”
 
5 July 1988, Houston (TX) Chronicle, “Real rainbow greets gathering on `holy’ July 4” by Richard Stewart, pg. 1:
“You can’t have a rainbow without the rain,’’ someone whispered.
 
Google Books
Never Say Diet!: 7 Days a Week:
A Lifestyle Planner
By Judy Toews and Nicole Parton
Toronto, ON: Key Porter Books
1998
Pg. 65:
You’d never have a rainbow without a little rain.
 
Google Groups: alt.fan.jesus-christ
JANDE cleared
Jande2211
2/18/99
(...)
Can’t have the rainbow without a little rain!
 
Google Groups: alt.gathering.rainbow
Glasshopper
bodhidan
6/10/00
(...)
What these poor people must’ve been thinking. i remember complaining about the rain when i got there until someone said “you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain”, but boy was it cold!
 
Google Groups: scruz.poetry
If I should give you Rainbows
PawsonPoetry
11/12/00
If I should give you Rainbows
by David Pawson
Š1999
If I should give you rainbows, I’d have to give you rain:
There’s never any good that comes, without a little pain.
Though there seems so much to lose, there’s so much more to gain;
You’ll never have a rainbow, without a little rain.
 
Google Books
Love Cycles:
Words Inspired by Wysobie
By Arlow Bailey
Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc.
2001
Pg. ?:
Rainbows
You’ll never see a rainbow. without the rain.
You’ll never appreciate joy without the pain.
You’ll never good
without the bad.
You’ll never truly be happy without ever being sad.
 
Styleaddicted
Re: Mooie/leuke statements
Bericht Sanne op di okt 14, 2008 10:04 pm
(...)
- Everyone wants happiness but without any pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
   
Hirraw’s Favorite Quotes
March 4, 2009
Everybody wants happiness
nobody wants pain
but you can’t have a rainbow
without a little rain..
 
Twitter
Kayla‏
@AgentCoke
you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain (:
11:40 PM - 5 Mar 2009
 
Twitter
randell byrd‏
@randellbyrd
RT @GadgetDirectory: Everyone wants happiness without any painbut you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
2:35 AM - 10 Mar 2009
 
Twitter
Betty‏
@TheyCallMeBetty
Everbody wants happiness & nobody wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.
11:37 AM - 13 Apr 2009
 
Twitter
LILLY C.‏
@blackbrownlady
favorite quote’s:’‘Everyone wants happiness and nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.”
11:15 PM - 28 Apr 2009
 
Twitter
Marivic Ulep‏
@define1lady
“Everyone wants happiness, No one wants pain, But you can’t have a rainbow, Without a little rain” — Zion Lee
7:24 PM - 27 May 2010
 
Google Books
If Your Mountain Won’t Move, Climb It!:
One climber’s test of faith and endurance in the face of life’s most difficult challenge
By Annette Whitmire
Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press
2014
Pg. 179:
“Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.” ~ Author Unknown
 
Google Books
Dig In Your Heels:
The Glamorous (and Not So Glamorous) Life of a Young Breast Cancer Survivor
By Karla Antoinette Baptiste
Antiste Publishing
2015
Pg. 137:
“Everybody wants happiness. Nobody wants pain but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.” –Unknown
 
Google Books
How Many Summers?:
A Look at Life Through Ordinary Eyes
By Wade McGauley
Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press
2016
Pg. ?:
Everybody wants happiness, nobody wants pain, but you can’t have a rainbow without a little rain.—Unknown