想要发光就要交电费
[xiăng yào fā guāng jiù yào jiāo diàn fèi]
'To Shine You Have to Pay the Electricity Bill' uses a clever metaphor: light can be seen as both success/attaining attention ('shine') but also a more practical aspect of having lights at home, where you have to pay a bill (the effort required). The person might mean achieving any goal involves paying a cost (be it financial, physical or mental) or just trying to express his life humorously and ingeniously.