“Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you results” is a saying that has appeared in many gyms, encouraging gym members to work out a good sweat. Jesse Jackson (speaking about social change) popularized almost the exact same saying by at least 1979:
 
“Both tears and sweat are wet and salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you change.”
 
The ending with “sweat will get you results” has been cited in print since at least 2000.
 
   
28 January 1979, Seattle (WA) Daily Times, “Glad You Asked That” by Marilyn and Hy Gardner, TV section, pg. 2, col. 1:
Q: Rev. Jesse Jackson has a way of explaining his philosophy that really gets right to the point. Can you give us a couple of his phrases that I can pass along to my kids?
—Mrs. A. Ellis,
St. Louis. Mo.
A. Yes. One good bit of advice was, “Both tears and sweat are wet and salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you change.”
 
4 October 1979, Daily Republican-Register (Mt. Carmel, IL), pg. 6, col. 1:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson: “Both tears and sweat are wetand salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you progress.”
 
New York (NY) Times
Problem Gambling Masks Severe Depression; Myth of the Victim
Published: December 08, 1992
To the Editor:
(...)
The point has been forcefully articulated by the Rev. Jesse Jackson with his repeated assertion to black audiences that “You are not responsible for being down, but you are responsible for getting up.” He makes the point in different words when he says: “Both tears and sweat are wet and salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you change.”
(...)
FRANK RIESSMAN
New York, Nov. 23, 1992
The writer is director of the National Self-Help Clearinghouse.
 
Google Groups: rec.humor
bluefish
Apr 29 2000
(...)
Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you results.
 
Google Books
Dictionary of Proverbs
By Grenville Kleiser
New Delhi: A.P.H. Publishing Corporation
2005
Pg. 183:
Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you results.
     
AdlandPro Forums
Bogdan
9/26/2008 11:15:53 AM
“Tears will get you sympathy. Sweat will get you results.”
—Anonymous
 
Universal USA Forum 
Jandirigma
#22 Nov 05, 2010, 12:09 pm
(...)
“Intensity equals immensity.”
“Tears get you sympathy, sweat gives you results.”
I don’t know who said them, but these are the quotes I like to think of when I lift.
 
Daily News & Analysis (DNA)
Push those boundaries to gain desired fitness results
Published: Tuesday, May 3, 2011, 17:19 IST
By Taniya Talukdar | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA
(...)
So leave your excuses behind and push yourself a little extra, “Tears will get you sympathy, but sweat will get you results,” says Sameer.
 
YouTube
Bodybuilding: Tears Will Get You Sympathy - Sweat Will Get You Results
Published on May 15, 2012 by HotBodybuildingDVDs