42 Wasted Time Quotes: A Reminder to Live Life to the Fullest

We can all hear that clock in the background, signaling an inevitable road to grey hairs and sore backs. As we look in the mirror to see a face full of wrinkles and lines, we must ask ourselves: When that day comes, what do we want to remember about our lives? Read the following 42 quotes to help you make this decision.

When we were children, time seemed to move at a snail's pace with all the free time in the world. Many of us didn't recognize, grab, or feel grateful for this opportunity. However, as we grew older and time began to accelerate, we began to see the importance of taking advantage of every moment.

Time is perhaps the most precious resource we have, so to use it wisely is to multiply the chances of success and joy in our lives. Read these 42 quotes below to take advantage of every beautiful breath.

Carl Sandburg's quote: "Time is the coin of life. Only you can determine how it will be spent." | Image: AmoDays

Quotes on the Perils of Wasting Your Time

"Are you taking your life for granted? Are you allowing your days to be consumed with boredom and frustration? Time is your most precious gift, not to be dwindled away in idleness or negativity." ― Les Brown

"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me." — William Shakespeare

"The truth is that all of the time in the world is not going to help us if we don't get our lives in order. We need to get our priorities straight, and we need to stop wasting time." — David A. Hunter

"Half the time men think they are talking business, they are wasting time." — E. W. Howe

"When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection." ― A.W. Tozer

Michelangelo's quote: "There is no greater harm than that of time wasted." | Image: AmoDays

"Neither can the wave that has passed by be recalled, nor the hour which has passed return again." — Ovid

"There's no good way to waste your time. Wasting time is just wasting time." — Helen Mirren

"We must keep in mind that we have limited time, and it is not wise to waste your time doing the wrong thing." ― Abhishek Ratna

"There is no greater harm than that of time wasted." — Michelangelo

Quotes on the People in Your Life and Wasting Time

Carlos Wallace's quote: "There should never be a time you make time for people who waste your time." | Image: AmoDays

"Comparing yourself to someone else is a massive waste of time." — Steve Errey

"I was afraid to be confident for a long time. I had to quit second-guessing everything because I worried so much about being wrong or, worse, offending anyone. It was never intentional, but I wasted far too much energy and time holding myself back." ― Emilyann Allen

"Someone wasting your time is far worse than someone wasting your money." — Mitch Thrower

"There should never be a time you make time for people who waste your time." — Carlos Wallace

Mitch Thrower’s quote: “Someone wasting your time is far worse than someone wasting your money.” | Image: AmoDays

"I have so much that I want to do. I hate wasting time." — Stephen Hawking

"When you kill time, you kill your opportunities for success." — Denis Waitley

"Your reality is yours. Stop wasting time looking at someone else's reality while doing nothing about yours." — Steve Harvey

"One-way time is wasted is to be in a meeting with no agenda, when everybody is the chairperson or everybody has a flow, and the meeting flows in all the directions." ― Dr. Lucas D. Shallua

Helen Mirren's quote: “There's no good way to waste your time. Wasting time is just wasting time." | Image: AmoDays

"Don't waste time and energy defending your idea that could be used pursuing your idea." ― Bobby Darnell

"Already, in the last few decades, you have realized the utter futility of encumbering yourselves with superfluous possessions that have no useful virtue but which, for various sentimental reasons, you continue to hoard, thus lessening your life's efficiency by using for it time and attention that should have been applied to the practical work of life's accomplishments." ― Clare Winger Harris

"Many lives are wasted by just waiting for something good to come from the horizon instead of going to the horizon and finding something good over there!" ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Money and Wasting Time

Harvey Mackay’s quote: "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." | Image: AmoDays

"Time is one of your most valuable commodities, and how you spend it determines what your life will be. You can either waste it, invest it or give it away." ― David Khalil

"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

Take Advantage of Your Time by Reading These Quotes

"I don't believe in worrying. It's a waste of energy." ― Malinda Lo

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." ― Bertrand Russell

Mason Cooley’s quote: "Regret for wasted time is more wasted time." | Image: AmoDays

"If you worry about something that you have no control over, or can absolutely do nothing about, then you are wasting your time, energy, and emotion." — Byron Pulsifer

"I feel like I'm wasting time if I repeat myself." ― Heath Ledger

"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door." ― Coco Chanel

"Regret for wasted time is more wasted time." ― Mason Cooley

Byron Pulsifer’s quote: "If you worry about something that you have no control over, or can absolutely do nothing about, then you are wasting your time, energy, and emotion." | Image: AmoDays

"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life." ― Muhammad Ali

"If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of." ― Bruce Lee

"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The time for action is now. It's never too late to do something." ― Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got." ― Art Buchwald

Monica Drake’s quote: "The only value of wasted time is knowledge." | Image: AmoDays

"You will never 'find' time for anything. If you want time, you must make it." ― Charles Buxton

"It doesn't matter who loves your life; if you don't love your own life, then it's all a waste." ― TemitOpe Ibrahim

"The only value of wasted time is knowledge." ― Monica Drake

"Funny that. We live in islands of Hours, and we never seem to have time enough for anything..." ― Clive Barker

Denis Waitley’s quote: "When you kill time, you kill your opportunities for success." | Image: AmoDays

While we must definitely take advantage of the time here on earth, obsessing and worrying over whether we are spending every second correctly is not the solution. Rather, we need to learn to dance with the paradox; take advantage of time but not let the looming clock overtake us with anxiety.

Rather than worry, approach it with excitement. Instead of saying to yourself in the morning I "have" to take today and use every second wisely, say, I "get" to fully embrace every second of today and shift the narrative.

If you truly want to use your time to make massive changes in your life, read these 36 glow-up quotes to inspire your overnight transformation.