the juice is worth the squeeze

The benefits of some endeavor or objective are enough to outweigh the potential hardship or fallout of pursuing it. A reference to the labor-intensive process of squeezing fruit to produce fresh juice. A: "I'm just not sure if college is the right choice for me." B: "I can understand that. It's a lot of time money, and hard work. You've got to be sure that the juice is worth the squeeze. You robbed a convenience store for a few thousand dollars, and now you're facing 15 years in prison. Was the juice worth the squeeze?