“Time is money." Says the proverb. This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pocket. If our time is usefully employed, it will either turn out1 some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities2 so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. Let those who think nothing of wasting time remember this.
Our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains, no trouble, and no expense to preserve life. But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day, forgetting that our life is the total sum of the days and of the hours we live. A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited3. Our life is a brief span measuring some seventy or eighty years in all. But nearly one third of this has to be spent in sleep; some years have to be spent over our meals; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea; some in merry-making; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and our dearest relatives. Now if all these years were to be deducted4 from the term over which our life extends, we shall find about twenty or thirty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life.
All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our capacities. If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away, we shall never be able to recoup5 the loss. Just as money laid out6 at interest doubles and trebles7 itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used, will yield8 us incalculable advantages.
谚语说：“时间就是金钱。”这句话的意思是，一时片刻只要用得其所，都会让我们的口袋增添一些钱。如果我们的时间使用得当，就能生产出有用的和重要的产品，在市场上卖个相应的价钱；或者充实我们的经验，增长我们的才干，待到适当时机我们就能挣得金钱。那些对浪费时间毫不在意的人该记住这一点。
再说，我们的生命无非就是我们的时间，因此浪费时间也就是一种自杀。我们想到死便惊恐不已，因而不惜一切努力、麻烦和费用来保全我们的生命。可是我们对于损失一个小时或一天的时间无动于衷，忘记了我们的生命原本就是我们生活的每一天、每一小时的总和。因此浪费一天或一个小时就是丧失一天或一个小时的生命。人生短暂，总共不过七八十年。可是将近三分之一的时间必须用于睡眠；吃饭也得花去好几年；陆路或海上旅行又是几年；再加上娱乐活动的几年；在病床边照看至爱亲朋的几年。现在如果从我们的寿命中扣除所有这些岁月，我们将会发现，能受我们支配的有效工作时间大约仅二三十年而已。谁能记住这一点，谁就不会心甘情愿地浪费他生命的每分每秒。
所有的时间都是宝贵的，而我们的童年和青年时期的光阴比一生中其他阶段更为宝贵。因为只有在这两个阶段我们才能获得知识，增长才干。如果我们让这些生命的早晨时光悄悄流逝，这损失永远也无法弥补。钱花出去，让它生利，到时就会增长一倍或两倍；同样，童年和青年时期的宝贵时光，如果使用得当，必将带来不可估量的利益。
1. turn out 产生出
2． capacity n． 能力
3． forfeit v． 丧失
4． deduct v． 扣除
5． recoup v． 补偿
6． lay out花（钱）
7． treble v． 成三倍
8． yield v． 生产
9． incalculable adj． 不可计算的