Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
—John Burroughs (1837–1921) American Naturalist, Writer
Time! suspend your flight. Propitious hours, suspend your course! Let us savour the swift delights of the most beautiful of our days.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
All that time is lost which might be better employed.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
An Italian philosopher said that “time was his estate” an estate indeed which will produce nothing without cultivation, but will always abundantly repay the labors of industry, and generally satisfy the most extensive desires, if no part of it be suffered to lie in waste by negligence, to be overrun with noxious plants, or laid out for show rather than for use.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Follow your bliss. Find where it is and don’t be afraid to follow it.
—Joseph Campbell (1904–87) American Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
In order to be utterly happy, the only thing necessary is to refrain from comparing this moment with other moments in the past, which I often did not fully enjoy because I was comparing them with other moments of the future.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action to all eternity.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Fulfill your works, your daily tasks … .
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
Believe me when I tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after life, with a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams; and that waste of it will make you dwindle, alike in intellectual and moral stature, beyond your darkest reckoning.
—William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) English Liberal Statesman, Prime Minister
We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until to-morrow. Keep going day in and out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs.
—Arnold Bennett (1867–1931) British Novelist, Playwright, Critic
It is better to do the most trifling thing in the world than to regard half an hour as trifle.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Do you know that disease and death must needs overtake us, no matter what we are doing? … What do you wish to be doing when it overtakes you? If you have anything better to be doing when you are so overtaken, get to work on that.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
He has not learned the first lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Happiness is to be found along the way, not at the end of the road, for then the journey is over and it is too late. Today, this hour, this minute is the day, the hour, the minute for each of us to sense the fact that life is good, with all of its trials and troubles, and perhaps more interesting because of them.
—Robert R. Updegraff
Modern man thinks he loses something—time—when he does not do things quickly. Yet he does not know what to do with the time he gains—except kill it.
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
The forty-four-hour week has no charm for me. I’m looking for a forty-hour day.
—Nicholas Murray Butler (1862–1947) American Philosopher, Diplomat, Educator
We all find time to do what we really want to do.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
Ah! the clock is always slow; it is later than you think.
—Robert W. Service (1874–1958) Scottish Poet, Author
An earnest purpose finds time, or makes it. It seizes on spare moments, and turns fragments to golden account.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
—Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali Poet, Polymath
Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Live in day-tight compartments.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
Without duty, life is soft and boneless.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
The strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The greatest danger is not to take the risk.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
What we love to do we find time to do.
—John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) American Catholic Clergyman, Educator, Essayist, Biographer
My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.
—Cary Grant (1904–86) British-American Film Actor
Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can’t buy more hours. Scientists can’t invent new minutes. And you can’t save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you’ve wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow. Success depends upon using it wisely—by planning and setting priorities.
—Denis Waitley (b.1933) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Regret for time wasted can become a power for good in the time that remains. And the time that remains is time enough, if we will only stop the waste and the idle, useless regretting.
—Arthur Brisbane (1864–1936) American Newspaper Editor, Investor
For present joys are more to flesh and blood than a dull prospect of a distant good.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.
—Horace Mann (1796–1859) American Educator, Politician, Educationalist
Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
Human felicity is produced not as much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
They are the guiding oracles which man has found out for himself in that great business of ours, of learning how to be, to do, to do without, and to depart.
—John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn (1838–1923) British Political Leader, Writer, Editor, Journalist
Our grand business undoubtedly is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. The orderly arrangement of his time is a like a ray of life which darts itself through all his occupations. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Life is growth-a challenge of environment. If we cannot meet our everyday surroundings with equanimity and pleasure and grow each day in some useful direction, then this splendid balance of cosmic forces which we call life is on the road toward misfortune, misery and destruction. Therefore, health is the most precious of all things.
—Luther Burbank (1849–1926) American Botanist, Scientist
There is no time for cut-and- dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.
—Horace Mann (1796–1859) American Educator, Politician, Educationalist
The organized person … makes the most of his time and goes to his bed for the night perfectly relaxed for rest and renewal.
—George Matthew Adams (1878–1962) American Columnist, Journalist
Today is the day in which to express your noblest qualities of mind and heart, to do at least one worthy thing which you have long postponed.
—Grenville Kleiser (1868–1935) Canadian Author
Make it a point to do something every day that you don’t want to do. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
People who postpone happiness are like children who try chasing rainbows in an effort to find the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end… Your life will never be fulfilled until you are happy here and now.
—Ken Keyes Jr. (1921–95) American Personal Growth Author
Have a time and place for everything, and do everything in its time and place, and you will not only accomplish more, but have far more leisure than those who are always hurrying, as if vainly attempting to overtake time that had been lost.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
And each man stands with his face in the light of his own drawn sword. Ready to do what a hero can.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate.
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) American Novelist, Playwright