Life is now … this day, this hour … and is probably the only experience of the kind one is to have.
—Charles Macomb Flandrau (1871–1938) American Essayist, Travel Writer
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
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
So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Riches are chiefly good because they give us time.
—Charles Lamb (1775–1834) British Essayist, Poet
One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Our costliest expenditure is time.
—Theophrastus (c.372–c.286 BCE) Greek Philosopher
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.
—Carl Sandburg (1878–1967) American Biographer, Novelist, Socialist
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
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
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
Seize the hour.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Simple style is like white light. It is complex, but its complexity is not obvious.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
Nothing is ours except time.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
The most important thing in our lives is what we are doing now.
—Unknown
Everyone once, once only.
Just once and no more.
And we also once.
Never again.
—Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) Austrian Poet
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
You may ask me for anything you like except time.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
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
We are involved in a life that passes understanding: our highest business is our daily life.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer
They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-American Philosopher, Poet, Sculptor
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
There is but a step between me and death.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Simple truths are a relief from grand speculations.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
Simplicity is the glory of expression.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist
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
All my possessions for a moment of time.
—Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603) British Monarch
No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Each day, each hour, an entire life.
—Juan Ramon Jimenez (1881–1958) Spanish Lyric Poet
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
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