KANAE
065Japanese maxim 格言

時は金なり

Toki wa kane nari

“Time is money.”

The meaning

Time is the only wealth that cannot be earned back. Spending it thoughtlessly is squandering a good rarer than gold.

At the origin

A maxim of Western origin, adopted into modern Japanese usage.

The characters

  1. 時 tokitime
  2. は watopic marker
  3. 金
  4. なり

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

ParticleMarks the topic: what the sentence is about — “as for…”.

In practice

Treat a free hour with the same seriousness as a sum of money.

Editorial note

Western origin (attributed to B. Franklin), adopted in Japan.

Themes

In the collections · Utsuroi

Similar proverbs

  1. 088 To ask is a moment's shame; not to ask is a lifetime's shame.
  2. 155 The hardships of youth — buy them if you must.
  3. 207 The outcome of a contest belongs also to the hour.
  4. 009 The best day to begin is the day you think of it.
  5. 016 Warm up the old to understand the new.

See also