|
| Navigation: Famous Quotes and Authors - Time Quotes |
|
|
|
Time Quotes and Quotations
 3 o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.  All movements go too far. Nothing is improbable until it moves into the past tense. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else. Respect the past in the full measure of its desserts, but do not make the mistake of confusing it with the present nor seek in it the ideals of the future. The butterfly counts not months but moments, And has time enough. The passing minute is every man's equal possession but what has once gone by is not ours. This only is denied even to God: the power to undo the past. - Agathon Time is a Test of Trouble - But not a Remedy - If such it proved, it proves too There was no Melody. Time is the rider that breaks youth. To excel the past we must not allow ourselves to lose contact with it; on the contrary, we must feel it under our feet because we raised ourselves upon it. Time is a great legalizer, even in the fields of morals. Time goes, you say? Ah no! Alas, Time stays, we go. Let time that makes you homely, make you sage. I don't ask for your pity, but just your understanding - no, not even that -no. Just for your recognition of me in you, and the enemy, time, in us all. All things flow, nothing abides. When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it's only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That's relativity. There was a young lady named Bright Who could travel much faster than light She started one day In the relative way And came back on the previous night. Longevity conquers scandal every time. What may be done at any time will be done at no time. One of these days is none of these days. Punctuality is the thief of time. Enjoy the present hour, Be thankful for the past, And neither fear nor wish Th' approaches of the last. Horus non numero nisi serenas (I count only the sunny hours). The only true time which a man can properly call his own, is that which he has all to himself; the rest, though in some sense he may be said to live it, is other people's time, not his. I want to go ahead of Father Time with a scythe of my own. Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. One third of the people of the world are asleep at any given moment. The other two thirds are awake and probably stirring up trouble somewhere. Time and I against any two. Time discovered truth. - Seneca Time gives good advice. What a day may bring, a day may take away. Time is a kindly god. Time goes by: reputation increases, ability declines. Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours. Every minute starts an hour. Time wounds all heels. - Jane Ace The apparent serenity of the past is an oil spread by time. Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away. It takes time to save time. The mind of man works with strangeness upon the body of time. 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; on the other hand, an hour may be accurately represented by the timepiece of the mind by one second. When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself. Champions know there are no shortcuts to the top. They climb the mountain one step at a time. They have no use for helicopters! The world doesn't come to the clever folks, it comes to the stubborn, obstinate, one-idea-at-a-time people. One of the greatest evils of the day among those outside of prison is their sense of futility. Young people say, What is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. One only gets to the top rung of the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of powers, all sorts of abilities which you thought never belonged to you- suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, "Well, I'll have a go, too." Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. Let no one be deluded that a knowledge of the path can substitute for putting one foot in front of the other. Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. Home wasn't built in a day. - Jane Ace Happiness is a tide: it carries you only a little way at a time; but you have covered a vast space before you know that you are moving at all. Not to go back is somewhat to advance. And men must walk, at least, before they dance. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. Well-being is attained little by little, and is no little thing itself. - Zeno Bigness comes from doing many small things well. ... Individually, they are not very dramatic transactions. Together, though, they add up. If you only keep adding little by little, it will soon become a big heap. - Hesiod He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. All that I have accomplished ... has been by that plodding, patient, persevering process of accretion which builds the ant heap particle by particle, thought by thought, fact by fact. If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves. Many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little. - Plutarch True worth is doing each day some little good, not dreaming of great things to do by and by. Little by little does the trick. - Aesop It is by attempting to reach the top at a single leap that so much misery is caused in the world. Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win. I think and think for months, for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right. Many strokes overthrow the tallest oaks. Much rain wears the marble. One thing at a time, all things in succession. That which grows slowly endures. A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat, but not too much, above his last achievement. One sits down first; one thinks afterwards. We can do no great things-only small things with great love. Many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak. Progress is the sum of small victories won by individual human beings. What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. A soul occupied with great ideas performs small duties. The waters wear the stones. - Bible One step and then another, and the longest walk is ended. One stitch and then another, and the longest rent is mended. One brick upon another, and the tallest wall is made. One flake and then another, and the deepest snow is laid. You don't just luck into things. ... You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities. The way a chihuahua goes about eating a dead elephant is to take a bite and be very present with that bite. In spiritual growth, the definitive act is to take one step and let tomorrow's step take care of itself! Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more. It is astonishing how short a time it takes for very wonderful things to happen. Inches make a champion. Yard by yard, it's very hard. But inch by inch, it's a cinch. If we take care of the inches, we will not have to worry about the miles. When Ty Cobb got on first base he had an apparently nervous habit of kicking the bag. ... By kicking the bag hard enough Cobb could move it a full two inches closer to second base. He figured that this improved his chances for a steal, or for reaching second base safely on a hit. Yard by yard, it's very hard. But inch by inch, it's a cinch. Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing.... It takes something from the world, and has something to give in return. One can get just as much exultation in losing oneself in a little thing as in a big thing. It is nice to think how one can be recklessly lost in a daisy. Life is made up of little things. It is very rarely that an occasion is offered for doing a great deal at once. True greatness consists in being great in little things. Life is a great bundle of little things. Nothing can be done except little by little. Practice yourself in little things, and thence proceed to greater. Those people work more wisely who seek to achieve good in their own small corner of the world ... than those who are forever thinking that life is in vain, unless one can ... do big things. I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. You've got to think about "big things" while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction. Little strokes fell great oaks. Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that; one stitch at a time taken patiently, and the pattern will come out all right, like embroidery. Why not learn to enjoy the little things-there are so many of them. Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen as by little advantages that occur every day. The mere sense of living is joy enough. Trifles make up the happiness or the misery of mortal life. Even a small star shines in the darkness. How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you're not going to be happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn't going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness. The big things that come our way are ... the fruit of seeds planted in the daily routine of our work. The little things are infinitely the most important. Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. It is in trifles, and when he is off his guard, that a man best shows his character. Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece. It was only a sunny smile, But it scattered the night And little it cost in the giving; Like morning light, And made the day worth living. Sometimes the littlest things in life are the hardest to take. You can sit on a mountain more comfortably than on a tack. Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. The smallest effort is not lost, Each wavelet on the ocean tost Aids in the ebb-tide or the flow; Each rain-drop makes some floweret blow; Each struggle lessens human woe. In life's small things be resolute and great To keep thy muscle trained; Know'st thou when Fate Thy measure takes, or when she'll say to thee, "I find thee worthy; do this deed for me?" He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. - Bible We think in generalities, but we live in detail. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. I am convinced that there are times in everybody's experience when there is so much to be done, that the only way to do it is to sit down and do nothing. We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once. You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give. Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little. We must not... ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. A terrace nine stories high begins with a pile of earth. - Lao-Tzu Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. God requires a faithful fulfillment of the merest trifle given us to do, rather than the most ardent aspiration to things to which we are not called. Large streams from little mountains flow, tall oaks from little acorns grow. Instead of thinking about where you are, think about where you want to be. It takes twenty years of hard work to become an overnight success. The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. The distance doesn't matter; only the first step is difficult. Cultural transformation announces itself in sputtering fits and starts, sparked here and there by minor incidents, warmed by new ideas that may smolder for decades. In many different places, at different times, the kindling is laid for the real conflagration-the one that will consume the old landmarks and alter the landscape forever. The greatest masterpieces were once only pigments on a palette. It is not the straining for great things that is most effective; it is the doing the little things, the common duties, a little better and better. It's a simple formula: do your best and somebody might like it. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. - Bible Almost everything comes from almost nothing. From a little spark may burst a mighty flame. Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest. Great issues develop from small beginnings. Events of great consequence often spring from trifling circumstances. - Livy No matter how big and tough a problem may be, get rid of confusion by taking one little step toward solution. Do something. Most of the critical things in life, which become the starting points of human destiny, are little things. - R. Smith Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny. The way to succeed is never quit. That's it. But really be humble about it. ... You start out lowly and humble and you carefully try to learn an accretion of little things that help you get there. A little neglect may breed great mischief. ... For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the battle was lost; for want of the battle, the war was lost. Inspiration does not come like a blot, nor is it kinetic energy striving, but it comes to us slowly and quietly all the time. There is time enough for everything in the course of the day if you do but one thing once; but there is not time enough in the year if you will do two things at a time. Incident piled on incident no more makes life than brick piled on brick makes a house. It's a long old road, but I know I'm gonna find the end. Think not because no man sees, such things will remain unseen. Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground. I never stop to plan. I take things step-by-step. There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic. Connections are made slowly, sometimes they grow underground. Human successes, like human failures, are composed of one action at a time and achieved by one person at a time. The growth of understanding follows an ascending spiral rather than a straight line. I look at victory as milestones on a very long highway. No first step can be really great; it must of necessity possess more of prophecy than of achievement; nevertheless it is by the first step that a man marks the value, not only of his cause, but of himself. I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. Let us then be up and doing, With a heart for any fate, Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. If, after all, men cannot always make history have a meaning, they can always act so that their own lives have one. Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle, and a victory. The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. In great matters men show themselves as they wish to be seen; in small matters, as they are. Backward, turn backward, O Time in your flight; Make me a child again just for tonight. In time take time while time doth last, for time Is no time when time is past. Time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Time is money. Time was made for slaves. I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. O temporal O mores! O what times! what morals! - Cicero See Time has touched me gently in his race, And left no odious furrows in my face. Time and tide wait for no man. Do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made of. A stitch in time saves nine. Gather ye rose-buds while ye may, Old Time is still aflying, And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying. Enjoy the present day, trusting very little to the morrow. - Horace My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. - Bible My time has not yet come. - Bible Better late than never. - Livy The signs of the times. - Matthew The bird of time has but a little way To flutter - and the bird is on the wing. Time is a great legalizer, even in the field of morals. These are the times that try men's souls. Time is the wisest counselor. - Pericles Seize time by the forelock. A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. - Bible We spend our years as a tale that is told. - Bible An age builds up cities: an hour destroys them. - Seneca There's a time for all things. The time is out of joint. O, call back yesterday, bid time return. Make use of time, let not advantage slip. A wonderful stream is the River Time, As it runs through the realms of Tears, With a faultless rhythm, and a musical rhyme, As it blends with the ocean of Years. Once in Persia reigned a king Who upon his signet ring Graved a maxim true and wise, Which if held before the eyes Gave him counsel at a glance Fit for every change and chance. Solemn words, and these are they: "Even this shall pass away." 
|
|
| The Quotes on this website are the property of their respective authors. All information has been reproduced on this website for informational and educational purposes only. Copyright © 2011 Famous Quotes and Authors.com. All Rights Reserved. |
