By Maxime Lagacé
Maxime is the founder and chief editor of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm, peaceful and powerful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.
Time is ticking.
1440 minutes in a day.
168 hours in a week.
8760 hours in a year…
I’ve spent 10+ hours curating 100 of the best time quotes I could find.
The goal?
To inspire you and remind you that time is all you have.
So guard it.
You’ll discover quotes by Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy, Steve Jobs, and many more.
Enjoy!
You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it. Charles Buxto
Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think. Chinese proverb
The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. Leo Tolstoy
Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. Marthe Troly-Curtin
Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind. Nathaniel Hawthorne

Every second is of infinite value. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The future has a way of arriving unannounced. George F. Will
Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got. Art Buchwald
Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments. Rose Kennedy
Life, if well lived, is long enough. Seneca

The present time has one advantage over every other – it is our own. Charles Caleb Colton
How we spend our days, is, of course, how we spend our lives. Annie Dillard
The more you know yourself, the more you understand life, the more you value your time. Maxime Lagacé
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. Charles Darwin
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Steve Jobs
Related
- Thought of the Day – 150 Inspiring Quotes For Reflection
- 79 Life Is Short Quotes To Help You Live To The Fullest
- 87 Deep Quotes That Will Make You Think
A few thoughts on time…
It’s hard to find something more valuable than time.
That’s why I’m always amazed when I see people complaining about time passing by, and then binge-watching on social media, Netflix, and other trivial things.
I used to do that too.
But I learned, the hard way, that life is just a glimpse.
In fact, I lost my girlfriend in a car accident when I was 22.
When I truly woke up, I was in my mid-30s.
I then started to work on myself, changed a few bad habits, and started creating instead of consuming.
I realized one thing:
to live the life I wanted, I had to create it.
So, instead of waiting, I had to take action.
Instead of living with fear, I had to take risks.
Instead of loving perpetual comfort, I had to avoid it.
Instead of complaining, I had to be responsible.
In sum,
I realized my life was in my hands.
And I didn’t want to throw it away.
The Best Time Quote
Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing. Miles Davis
Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. Napoleon Hill
We feast on time as time feasts on us. Maria Popova
Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one. Marcus Aurelius
Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined with the time we have? Kerry Johnson
People often complain about lack of time when lack of direction is the real problem. Zig Ziglar
If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace. Thomas Paine
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. Emily Dickinson
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Seneca (On The Shortness Of Life)
We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth. Seneca
Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. M. Scott Peck
I recommend you take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves. Earl of Chesterfield
Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. William Penn
Lack of time is actually lack of priorities. Tim Ferriss
Ordinary people think merely of spending time, great people think of using it. Arthur Schopenhauer
The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately. Seneca
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. Benjamin Franklin
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
Time is a gift that most of us take for granted. Cheryl Richardson
We go back and forth between being time’s master and its victim. James Gleick
Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time. Rich Warren
Value your time. It is all you have. It’s more important than your money. It’s more important than your friends. It is more important than anything. Your time is all you have. Do not waste your time. Naval Ravikant
The best use of time is stepping back to identify the best use of time. Aaron Aalto
The person with the lowest time preference wins. Anthony Pompliano (Source)
Part 2. Time Quotes That Are…
The Most Famous Time Quotes
Searching for a famous time quote? Check out those by Emerson, Mandela, Shakespeare, Einstein, etc.
Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Lao Tzu
Time is the devourer of everything. Ovid
Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever. Samuel Smiles
The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. Albert Einstein
How did it get so late so soon? Dr. Seuss
You can have it all. Just not all at once. Oprah Winfrey
Time is the ultimate currency. Elon Musk (Source)
Lost time is never found again. Benjamin Franklin
You may delay, but time will not. Benjamin Franklin
The time is always right to do what is right. Martin Luther King Jr
Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today. Benjamin Franklin
Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek)
It is looking at things for a long time that ripens you and gives you a deeper meaning. Vincent Van Gogh
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All great achievements require time. Maya Angelou
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
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. Chinese proverb
We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. Nelson Mandela
As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. Henry David Thoreau
We must use time as a tool, not as a couch. John F. Kennedy
Better three hours too soon than a minute too late. William Shakespeare
Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time. Mahatma Gandhi
Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose. Thomas A. Edison
The years teach much which the days never know. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. Rabindranath Tagore
Time is money. Benjamin Franklin
Short Time Quotes
One-liners, short time quotes, thoughts, sayings, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.
Time is long but life is short. Stevie Wonder
Time is the wisest counselor of all. Pericles
Time is the currency of life. Shane Parrish
I don’t have time is just saying it’s not a priority. Naval Ravikant
Time is a construction of our consciousness. Maria Popova
If one has no time, one has also lost oneself. Marc Wittmann
Who knows where the time goes? Nina Simone
Time is not a measure, but a quality. Paulo Coelho
Too often too late comes too soon. Dr. SunWolf
Time brings all things to pass. Aeschylus
Time is the fire in which we burn. Gene Roddenberry
Things change, and time is how we keep track. James Gleick
Own time, or time will own you. Brian Norgard
Time is a drug; too much of it kills you. Terry Pratchett
Only time can heal what reason cannot. Seneca
Whatever begins, also ends. Seneca
Time stays long enough for those who use it. Leonardo da Vinci
The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot. Michael Altshuler
Time is an illusion. Albert Einstein
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so. Douglas Adams
Inspirational Time Quotes
In such seconds of decision entire futures are made. Dan Simmons
Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stowe
Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing. Thomas Jefferson
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
The wisest are the most annoyed at the loss of time. Dante Alighieri
Mental time-travel is one of the greatest gifts of the mind. It makes us human, and it makes us special. Claudia Hammond
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Bruce Lee
Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade! Tony Robbins
If time and reason are functions of each other, if we are creatures of time, then we had better know it, and try to make the best of it. To act responsibly. Ursula K. Le Guin
The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I don’t think it is possible to contribute to the present moment in any meaningful way while being wholly engulfed by it. It is only by stepping out of it, by taking a telescopic perspective, that we can then dip back in and do the work which our time asks of us. Maria Popova
You must match time’s swiftness with your speed in using it, and you must drink quickly as though from a rapid stream that will not always flow. Seneca
An hour, once it lodges in the queer element of the human spirit, may be stretched to fifty or a hundred times its clock length. Virginia Woolf
The perfect time to do what you love is now. Neil Strauss
The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. Stephen R. Covey
If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got. Lee Iacocca
Time is a better measure of success than money. Shane Parrish (Source)
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
Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Warren Buffett
Conclusion
Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has yet to come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering. Ida Scott Taylor
Let’s recap:
- Time is all you have. Spend it wisely.
- Did you have fun today? Did you work hard? Did you laugh? Did you help someone? Did you love? Then you did not waste your time.
- Time is a doctor and a counselor. If you’re patient enough, you’ll get help.
- The present moment has everything you need.
- Want to achieve something? Create the time for it.
Further Readings (For Wisdom And Life Lessons)
- Topic: Life
- 83 Life Quotes To Transform Your Life Today
- 71 Life Is Precious Quotes (Enjoy It Now)
- 100 Words of Wisdom From The Best Minds (Ever)
- 100 Stoic Quotes For A Wiser Perspective On Life
- 115 Philosophy Quotes From The Best Philosophers
- 78 Conscience Quotes To Improve Your Inner World
- 155 Freedom Quotes To Inspire Liberty And Independence
- 100 Decision Quotes For Better Decision Making (And Life)
- 77 Life Lessons Quotes (To Learn And Grow)
- 73 Life Tips To Live Your Best Life
Hope you enjoyed these inspiring time quotes. If you did, please share them with a friend today!
Do you savor time? What’s your favorite time quote? Please let us know in the comment section below!
Table Of Contents
Part 1
Top 15 Images
Best Quotes
Part 2
Time Quotes That ARE
Famous
Short
Inspirational
Part 3
Conclusion