Riches are chiefly good because they give us time.
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834) British Essayist, Poet
Lost time is never found again.
—Common Proverb
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
—Jack London (1876–1916) American Novelist
Simplicity is the glory of expression.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
One realizes the full importance of time only when there is little of it left. Every man’s greatest capital asset is his unexpired years of productive life.
—Paul W. Litchfield (1875—1959) American Industrialist
Our costliest expenditure is time.
—Theophrastus (c.372–c.286 BCE) Greek Philosopher
A sense of the value of time … is an essential preliminary to efficient work; it is the only method of avoiding hurry.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
He possesses dominion over himself, and is happy, who can every day say, “I have lived.” Tomorrow the heavenly Father may either involve the world in dark clouds, or cheer it with clear sunshine; he will not, however, render ineffectual the things which have already taken place.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum, in which men steal through existence, like sluggish waters through a marsh, without either honor or observation.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
Not a day passes over the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs the greater part will never be known till that hour when many that were great shall be small, and the small great.
—Charles Reade (1814–84) English Novelist, Playwright
He is only rich who owns the day. There is no king, rich man, fairy, or demon who possesses such power as that.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The simplest things give me ideas.
—Joan Miro (1893–1983) Spanish Artist
Seize the hour.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Your daily life is your temple and your religion.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Many people take no care of their money till they come nearly to the end of it, and others do just the same with their time.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Each day, each hour, an entire life.
—Juan Ramon Jimenez (1881–1958) Spanish Lyric Poet
A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty is worth a whole eternity in bondage.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Life, we learn too late, is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour.
—Stephen Leacock (1869–1944) Canadian Political Scientist, Humorist
To sensible men, every day is a day of reckoning.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
When thought is too weak to be simply expressed, it’s clear proof that it should be rejected.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
We create our fate every day … most of the ills we suffer from are directly traceable to our own behavior.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
Gladly accept the gifts of the present hour.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Every minute of life carries with it its miraculous value, and its face of eternal youth.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Possessions dwindle: I mourn their loss. But I mourn the loss of time much more; for anyone can save his purse, but none can win back lost time.
—Latin Proverb
Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The laboring man and the artificer knows what every hour of his time is worth, and parts not with it but for the full value: they are only noblemen and gentlemen, who should know best how to use it, that think it only fit to be cast away; and their not knowing how to set a true value upon this, is the true cause of the wrong estimate they make of all other things.
—Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–74) English Statesman, Historian
Who loses a day loses life.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher