Time is the one resource we all share equally, yet it often feels like there’s never enough of it.
Whether you’re striving to balance work, family, and personal goals, or simply trying to squeeze more productivity into your day, the wisdom of others can offer inspiration and perspective.
Here’s a collection of timeless quotes on time management that resonate with focus, prioritization, and the value of every moment.
Best Time Management Quotes
“Time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing.” – Miles Davis
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
“Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves.” – Lord Chesterfield
“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“Do not wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” – William Penn
“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.” – William Shakespeare
“The way we spend our time defines who we are.” – Jonathan Estrin
“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.” – Arnold H. Glasow
“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin
“Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
“You may delay, but time will not.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.” – Peter Drucker
“It’s not about having time, it’s about making time.” – Anonymous
“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’” – Lao Tzu
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar
“Time is the wisest counselor of all.” – Pericles
“Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.” – Alan Watts
“You can’t turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again.” – Bonnie Prudden
“Time management is life management.” – Robin Sharma
“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey
“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.” – Charles Richards
“Time abides long enough for those who make use of it.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in five words: I did not have time.” – Franklin Field
“You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” – Charles Buxton
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin
“To do two things at once is to do neither.” – Publius Syrus
“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” – Coco Chanel
“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” – Theophrastus
“The best time to start was yesterday. The next best time is now.” – Anonymous
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
“Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have retained of them.” – Marcel Proust
“Your time is limited, don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” – Steve Jobs
“Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it.” – Leonardo da Vinci
“What may be done at any time will be done at no time.” – Scottish Proverb
“Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.” – Warren Buffett
“Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.” – Will Rogers
“There’s only one thing more precious than our time, and that’s who we spend it on.” – Leo Christopher
“Time management requires self-discipline, self-mastery, and self-control more than anything else.” – Brian Tracy
“Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.” – Margaret Peters
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Anonymous
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” – Anonymous
“Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.” – Alice Walker
“A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last.” – Baltasar Gracián
“The shorter way to do many things is to only do one thing at a time.” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
“Time is a created thing. To say, ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’” – Lao Tzu
“Procrastination is the thief of time.” – Edward Young
“Time spent on hiring is time well spent.” – Robert Half
“The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.” – Carl Sandburg
“Time management is about life management.” – Idowu Koyenikan
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
“Time waits for no one.” – Folklore
“The best way to get something done is to begin.” – Anonymous
“There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” – Brian Tracy
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Anonymous
“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes in a day.” – Denis Waitley
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
“Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” – Marthe Troly-Curtin
“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” – Charles Kettering
“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” – Harvey Mackay
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee
“Until you value yourself, you will not value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.” – M. Scott Peck
“Time and tide wait for no man.” – Geoffrey Chaucer
“Do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” – Auguste Rodin
“Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Time is the coin of your life. You spend it. Do not allow others to spend it for you.” – Carl Sandburg
“Time brings all things to pass.” – Aeschylus
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow is not yet here. Let us focus on today.” – Anonymous
“Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” – William Shakespeare
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” – Albert Einstein
“Time has a way of showing us what really matters.” – Anonymous
“A goal without a timeline is just a dream.” – Robert Herjavec
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’ is to say ‘I don’t want to.’” – Lao Tzu
“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali
“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” – Michael Porter
“Time management isn’t just about doing things faster; it’s about doing the right things.” – Anonymous
“Time is the wisest of all counselors.” – Pericles
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Buddha
“Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn.” – Delmore Schwartz
“The best investment you can make is in your time.” – Anonymous
“Be selective with your time. It’s the only currency that truly matters.” – Anonymous
“Doing less is not being lazy. Doing less is about doing more of what matters.” – Tim Ferriss
“There is a time for work, and a time for love. That leaves no other time.” – Coco Chanel
“Time is the least thing we have of.” – Ernest Hemingway
“Wisdom is the power to put our time and our knowledge to the proper use.” – Thomas J. Watson
“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
“Time slips away like grains of sand never to return again.” – Robin Sharma
“Time is a great healer, but a poor beautician.” – Lucille S. Harper
“Each moment is a place you’ve never been.” – Mark Strand
“Time spent wisely is time well spent.” – Anonymous
