Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“Time is money—says the vulgarest saw known to any age or people. Turn it round about, and you get a precious truth—money is time.”
- Date
- 1903
Meaning of “Time is money—says the vulgarest saw known to…”
Gissing’s reflective persona reverses a familiar slogan to emphasize that enough money can purchase usable time, comfort and freedom from some forms of compulsory labor.
Where does it come from?
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft, Project Gutenberg #1463. The semi-fictional Ryecroft reflects on modest financial security and later warns that both too much and too little money can distort the use of time; the passage is literary reflection, not financial advice.