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Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for ever.
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“Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone for ever.”

Samuel Smiles

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Source
Self-Help
Date
1859
Meaning

Meaning of “Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost…”

Many losses can be repaired through later effort, but spent time cannot be recovered, giving attention and method unusual importance.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Self-Help, Chapter IX, “Men of Business,” Project Gutenberg #935. The sentence appears in Smiles’s discussion of method, punctuality and the economical use of time, contrasting losses that may be repaired with time once spent, which cannot be recovered.

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BookBusinessDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortFailureHard WorkInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityLifeLife AdviceLife Is ShortLife LessonsMoneyMotivation For LifeMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistenceProductivityReadingRegretResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentSuccessTimeWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellEntrepreneurHealth
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