1 lit. if you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won't taste sweet (because it's only when the melon is ripe that it can be removed with just a slight twist) (idiom)
2 fig. if sth is not meant to be, it's no use trying to force it to happen
忆苦思甜
yì kǔ sī tián
1 to view one's past as miserable and one's present as happy (idiom)