Quotes & Sayings About Not Wasting Your Time

Katie's mum, Penny, said "I don't know why you're wasting your time with him. If he's forty-two and never been married, he's hardly likely to get married now."
And Katie's sister Naomi had the darkest prediction. "He'll make mincemeat of you."
He won't," Katie protested. "I'm not going to fall for him."
So why are you bothering at all?"
Just killing time until I die. — Marian Keyes

Don't go home with that magic man! I wanted to shake my Walkman, warn the Heart girls to run away. Don't trust him! He might be magic, but he's not very nice! He says he just wants to get high awhile, but he'll get you so high you can't come back down. He'll make you stay inside so long, it hurts your eyes to go out, so you'll spend whole years wasting away in his mansion. You'll lose your sense of time. You'll lose your appetite. When your mama cries on the phone, you won't understand a word she's saying. You'll just tell her, "Try to understand." And Mrs. Wilson isn't falling for that shit. Ann! Nance! Get the hell out of there. One smile from that magic man and you're done. You'll be so fucking magic, you won't be real anymore. He'll even set your lipgloss on fire. — Rob Sheffield

Sometimes, sitting there on the cushion failing to watch your breath, it can feel like you're the only weirdo weird enough to be wasting your time in this way. But you're not! There are generations of weirdos, monasteries full of them, and we have the benefit of their accumulated wisdom. — Jay Michaelson

Your hand can seize today, but not tomorrow; and thoughts of your tomorrow are nothing but desire. Don't waste this breath, if your heart isn't crazy, since "the rest of your life" won't last forever. — Omar Khayyam

A career like mine as an actor has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes you wonder if you're not wasting your time trying to carve out a space for yourself in this crazy entertainment industry. — Chris Carmack

There's always tomorrow."
I followed him. "Tomorrow's not going to change anything."
"We'll see."
"There's nothing to see. You're wasting your time."
"When it concerns you, it's never a waste of my time," he replied. — Jennifer L. Armentrout

I need to do something about college, but I'm not sure what."

"Where have you decided to apply?"

"Nowhere yet. Any time I think about the schools I've visited, I feel overwhelmed. The campuses are so big that I know I'll get lost. I dread making new friends. And the professors acted too busy to deal with someone like me. My parents will be wasting a huge amount of money."

"Your fears are no different than most high school seniors." He studied me thoughtfully. "Must you go to college?"

I opened my mouth to say Of course, I must - and then shut it again. The concept didn't bother me nearly as much as it should have. Skipping college would be crazy. Right? It was hard enough for a disabled person to find a job, but being disabled with no degree would make it hopeless. "I don't have a choice."

"Perhaps you have more choices than you realize. — Elizabeth Langston

Whenever I think about my stupid empty life, I come to the conclusion that I'm just wasting my time, and I'm not the only one. Everybody I know is the same, except for old Jiko. Just wasting time, killing time, feeling crappy.
And what does it mean to waste time anyway? If you waste time is it lost forever?
And if time is lost forever, what does that mean? It's not like you get to die any sooner, right? I mean, if you want to die sooner, you have to take matters into your own hands. — Ruth Ozeki

Really, you're truly a virgin?" "Does that make me weak in your eyes, less of a man?" He looks at me straight on once again, sees so deep inside me that I feel something ignite. "Because the truth is, Rosie, I never met anyone I wanted after I met you. I made a vow to myself that wasting my time with anyone else was a fool's mistake. One I wasn't willing to make. You ruined me for girls. You made me only want a woman." "Any woman?" "No, Rosie. Not any woman. You. I've — Johnny Knox

With all of the choices we have in this world, why would you ever spend your time running behind one that is not even willing to walk towards you. Stop wasting time with those who have other priorities, you too have options. -AHCIII — A.H. Carlisle III

Dear Depression, please keep your distance. Don't be nasty. Find some other person with more reason than me to look in the mirror and say: "What a pointless existence." Whether you like it or not, I know how to defeat you. You're wasting your time. — Paulo Coelho

Any writer who has difficulty in writing is probably not onto his true subject, but wasting time with false, petty goals; as soon as you connect with your true subject you will write. — Joyce Carol Oates

With a strong sense of the imminence of death, you will feel the need to engage in spiritual practice, improving your mind and not wasting your time on various distractions ranging from eating and drinking to endless talk about war, romance, and gossip. — Dalai Lama XIV

You're wasting your time if you try to make someone see reason when reason is not influencing the decision. — Scott Adams

If you are a gamer, it's time to get over any regret you might feel about spending so much time playing games. You have not been wasting your time. You have been building up a wealth of virtual experience that, as the first half of this book will show you, can teach you about your true self: what your core strengths are, what really motivates you, and what make you happiest. — Jane McGonigal

As you go through life, the might current of society is bound to get in your way and there will certainly be times that things don't go as you'd hoped. When this happens, don't look to society for a cause. Do not renounce society. Frankly, you'd be wasting your time. Instead just say, "That's life!" and muddle your way through with frustration. Once you're past it, consider: If society's swift current is tossing you around, how should you be swimming there in it's midst. You should have learned how, here in the E class, in this assassination classroom. You don't always have to stand and face it head-on. You can run and you can hide. If it's not against the rules, you can try a sneak attack. You can use unconventional weapons. Stay determined - not impatient nor discouraged - and with repeated trial and error, you're bound to reach a splendid outcome eventually. — Yusei Matsui

Time flies, whether you're wasting it or not. — Crystal Woods

Follow your dream as long as you live, do not lessen the time of following desire, for wasting time is an abomination of the spirit. — Plato

Hey, how come you told those
girls your name was Jet?"
"Standard practice if you don't want
chicks to find you later, Sage. Besides, I figured I was protecting our operation
here."
"Yeah, but why Jet? Why not ... I
don't know ... Travis or John?"
Adrian gave me a look that said I was
wasting his time. "Because Jet sounds
badass. — Richelle Mead

Everything is more complicated than you think. You only see a tenth of what is true. There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you'll never ever trace it to its source. And you only get one chance to play it out. Just try and figure out your own divorce. And they say there is no fate, but there is: it's what you create. Even though the world goes on for eons and eons, you are here for a fraction of a fraction of a second. Most of your time is spent being dead or not yet born. But while alive, you wait in vain, wasting years, for a phone call or a letter or a look from someone or something to make it all right. And it never comes or it seems to but doesn't really. And so you spend your time in vague regret or vaguer hope for something good to come along. Something to make you feel connected, to make you feel whole, to make you feel loved. — Charlie Kaufman

NO ADMITTANCE.
NOT EVEN TO AUTHORISED PERSONNEL.
YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME HERE.
GO AWAY. — Douglas Adams

Chance is the one thing you can't buy. You have to pay for it and you have to pay for it with your life, spending a lot of time, you pay for it with time, not the wasting of time but the spending of time. — Robert Doisneau

The best way to maximize your time is by not wasting time. This requires planning and having an awareness of how you spend your time throughout the day. — Tasha Hoggatt

Don't keep your own schedule - that will eat too much of your time keeping your own schedule. And when you are tired, stop. Because if you are too tired, you become not productive, and you are wasting time. — Christine Quinn

Rather than wasting time on yesterday that is gone, it is better to invest your time in tomorrow that is not yet born.-RVM — R.v.m.

Go your way, seducers, flatterers, idlers, those glib of tongue and charlatans; I am not a seed that you can force to grow; my goal differs so from yours that I would be wasting my time in trying to explain where my inclination drives me. — Dominique Fernandez

Wasting your time in anxious worry over what you may not have is a good way to waste what you need to get it. — Guy Finley

If you can't believe a little in what you see on the screen, it's not worth wasting your time on cinema. — Serge Daney

You have been a very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of impossible things when you speak of Mr. Pontellier setting me free! I am no longer one of Mr. Pontelliere's possessions to dispose of or not. I give myself where I choose. If he were to say, 'Here Robert, take her and be happy; she is yours,' I should laugh at you both. — Kate Chopin

A man who isn't into you, isn't into you. Don't force it - let him go. Maybe he's already got a partner. Maybe the timing's wrong. Maybe he's got deep ambivalence about whether he wants a relationship. Maybe he's hoping he can use you for sex - then give up in disgust when you aren't had so easily. Maybe he just doesn't love you. Maybe he's dealing with anxiety, or job loss, or the ex he can't forget. The truth is, none of that matters! The reason is not the important thing. The behavior is. No matter why, when a man doesn't want you, give up on him - he is saving you from wasting your time and emotions. — Duana Welch

Love never comes with a brochure of rules and regulations, a prospectus with guides of what is acceptable and what is abominable. It's a standard to follow your heart, and that's what I did and if doing that hurt you, then I'm sorry ... sorry for coming in your life and wasting your time, for causing you an anguish so great that you could not bear the sight of me. Today, I am proud to stand up and honour myself and proclaim to the world ... yes, I loved someone more than myself. I loved someone truly, madly, deeply! — Faraaz Kazi

If you're not making someone else's life better, then you're wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better. — Will Smith

The man of meditation becomes the man of understanding because his energy accumulates. He is not wasting it. He is not interested in trivia; he does not put any energy at all into petty things. So whenever the time arises to give, he has to give. Energy is understanding. Be conscious of it and use your energy very consciously, and use your energy in such a way that you don't simply go on wasting it. — Rajneesh

The longer you wait to decide what you want to do, the more time you're wasting. It's up to you to want something so badly that your passion shows through in your actions. Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you. — Derek Jeter

Something must be done about the food."
Seeing his speculative glance Clare laid down her fork and gave him a warning scowl. "Yes, I'm a good cook, but I will not have time to work in the kitchen. And don't try to convince me that a mistress also has to cook for her lover."
"I wasn't thinking of wasting your valuable time in the kitchen." He smiled mischievously. "But a mistress can do interesting thing with food. Shall I describe them?"
"No!"
"Another time, perhaps. — Mary Jo Putney

The one thing I don't understand is when people make comments who are clearly not fans of mine. I think, why are you here? Why are you wasting your time? It's fascinating. — Madonna Ciccone

Another one is cleaning up tool that have been used and not put away and are cluttering up the place. This is a good one because one of the first warning signs of impatience is frustration at not being able to lay your hand on the tool you need right away. If you just stop and put tools away neatly you will both find the tool and also scale down your impatience without wasting time or endangering the work. — Robert M. Pirsig

I just called to see if you're loving anybody today. If you're not loving somebody, you're wasting your time. These are my words of wisdom, from this side of eighty." -Paul Mason — Ruth Ray

If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time. — Billy Joel

If you do not have a universal high objective, you are not only wasting your precious time but also the time of humanity! Try to get a cosmic high elevation goal! — Mehmet Murat Ildan

If you're not learning, you're wasting your time. — Pharrell Williams

[Eugene] O'Neill made a living, certainly, at least. But each of these forms have sort of died the death in turn, and it's a simple fact of that universe that talent then migrates away from these forms, and then the amateurs get in, like lunatics in the ruins, sort of pretending to be artists. If you're ambitious enough to want to be a writer to begin with, you want to be a writer in some circumstances where there are rewards, where there's notice, where you don't have to be a teacher, and where you're frankly not nuts for wasting your time. — William Monahan

Rock 'n' roll and playing live is very addictive. But you have to really be careful, because you don't want to do it all the time. It's like when you are young and you think if you are not having sex you're wasting your time. But as you get older you realise everything has its place. It's the same thing with performing ... Performing is a great thing to do but you don't want to have to be doing it every night. — Mick Jagger

I hope you're enjoying it, though, duck, and not wasting all your time and energy in a thankless job. You've got to make the most of life and not let these little opportunities pass you by. Before you know it you'll be old and wrinkly like me and wishing you'd done more. Just make sure you're happy. — Giovanna Fletcher

If at first you don't succeed, sure, try again ... but if you keep not succeeding, you should probably concentrate on something (or someone) else worthwhile & quit wasting your time. — Ingrid Weir

I was one of the haves, and one of the secrets of being a have is not wasting your time on empathy. — Peter S. Beagle

Your age reflects or measures the rate at which you have been spending life. Every one born into this world is given life and that life is measured in units of time. Spending time means spending life, wasting time means wasting life. Getting value out of time means, getting value out of life. Time does not stop moving because we stopped working with purpose, meaning life does not stop or take a break even when you plan to go on vacation. You never stop spending time, even when you don't have a penny in your pocket. — Archibald Marwizi

Try to write in a directly emotional way, instead of being too subtle or oblique. Don't be afraid of your material or your past. Be afraid of wasting any more time obsessing about how you look and how people see you. Be afraid of not getting your writing done. — Anne Lamott

The fear of being alone is greater than the fear of losing yourself. How scary, and sad, is that? The reality is that you'll never find someone wonderful while you're wasting your time on some guy who's not ready to be fully present in your life. Your strongest self knows this. She never waits. If a guy needs time, she bounces. If he wants to be with her, he'll prove that through his actions, not his sweet talk. And that's how it should be because you have better places to be, things to do, guys to meet. — Halle Kaye

Reality is never what you imagined it would be. Sometimes it's better. Sometimes it's worse. And sometimes it's just different. It's not worth wasting time and energy trying to predict how things are going to turn out. Just go with the flow and keep your eyes and ears peeled. — Abby Rosmarin

Stop crying. Stop sitting in the dark counting out all your individual feelings about how sad and lonely you are. Wake up ( ... ) You're not the only person in this world who doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning ( ... ) You can be whoever the hell you want to be now ( ... ) So make a choice. Make a choice and stop wasting everyone's time. Stop eating your own time. Okay? — Tahereh Mafi

When i dated someone, my goal is to marry her, i date to get married one day, i don't date a girl just to have sex and leave her, why wasting your time if the goal is not to get married? — Werley Nortreus

Naturally, in 10 years, you change as a person and you learn a lot from your mistakes. You also learn a lot about wasting time and the right way to handle things. We're not touring as much. We're not doing eight or nine months of the year, so I've got a bit more time to get a perspective on what I do. I think I've improved my songwriting. I'm every bit as enthusiastic about playing as ever and I'm still learning. — Rory Gallagher

A girl would be lucky to have you, but not like this, Carmine. Not the way you treat people now. You're wasting your time, and it's not worth it. You need to find something that is. So, maybe your life isn't boring, but it has to be unfulfilling. — J.M. Darhower

Do not be discouraged by the resistance you will encounter from your human nature; you must go against your human inclinations. Often, in the beginning, you will think that you are wasting time, but you must go on, be determined and persevere in it until death, despite all the difficulties. — Brother Lawrence

Whether you need to remember the past or not, It changes nothing but gives the best choice for the future that makes You always to remember your past. — Auliq Ice

A wise man thus seeks not a straight path, but one that is the shortest or most convenient. The idea is to reach your goal comfortably and quickly rather than wasting your time in finding 'Which is the straightest path? — Awdhesh Singh

Did you know there's a difference between being busy and being fruitful? Did you ever stop to think that just being busy - running around in circles all day but not accomplishing anything - is the same as wasting your time? It's frustrating to expend so much energy and time and not have any fruit from your effort! — Joyce Meyer

You can start over again! Don't even think about quitting now! It is easy to replay in your mind how things did not work, how much you lost, what you are going through, how angry you are. There is no amount of conversation or magic that is going to wipe the slate clean. You are wasting valuable time and energy that could be used to regain a new normal and start another version of your life. Even though you are hurt and you may be feeling down - stop kicking yourself! Face what has happened. Make the decision to start over again. — Les Brown

Oh, you'll not be any poorer if you smile along your way. And your lot will not be harder for the kindly things you say. Don't imagine you are wasting time for others that you spend. You can rise to wealth and glory and still pause to be a friend. — Edgar Guest

We are not anti-white. But we don't have time for the white man. The white man is on top already, the white man is the boss already ... he has first-class citizenship already. So you are wasting your time talking to the white man. We are working on our own people. — Malcolm X

When you spend time worrying, you're simply using your imagination to create things you don't want. — Shannon L. Alder

I think in the Western world we have gotten overly identified with doing, and we've kind of forgotten about the art of being. And we don't see value in it; we think that if you're not doing something all of the time, being very active and producing something, then you're sort of wasting your time. — Shakti Gawain

If you're not getting better in the summer, you're wasting your time. — Chris Bosh

Give yourself completely to the one you call God. If you are not doing it you are wasting your time here. — Rumi

It wasn't worth wasting your time trying to change the world; it was enough not to let the world change you. — Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The weird thing is that the more efficient, on task, on goal you are with your time, the more energy you have. Working with no traction, or for that matter simply wasting a day, does not relax you, it drains you.//
Strange as it may seem, when you work a daily plan in pursuit of your written goals that flow from your mission statement born of your vision for living your dreams, you are energized after a tough long day. — Dave Ramsey

I just believe that us as women - should not criticize nor pull down other women. And why? Because we're all just trying our best to be beautiful! We all just want to be loved, we want to be beautiful, we're all trying to leave our own legacy! The good news is that the universe is unending and that means there is enough space for each woman on earth to leave her own mark and to be her own legacy. To be her own kind of beautiful. So why spend even a second on trying to take away from another woman? Trying to steal, trying to criticize, trying to oppress? There is enough space for every woman and every kind of beautiful, in this vast cosmos! When you waste any amount of time trying to take what is another's - you are wasting your huge chunk of a galaxy that's already been given to you! — C. JoyBell C.

The first step to building resilience is to take responsibility for who you are and for your life. If you're not willing to do that, stop wasting your time reading this letter. The essence of responsibility is the acceptance of the consequences - good and bad - of your actions. — Eric Greitens

No one expects Will Herondale to live past nineteen, and no one will be sorry to see him go, either -"
That was too much for Tessa. Without thinking about it she burst out indignantly, "What a thing to say!"
Gabriel, interrupted midrant, looked as shocked as if one of the tapestries had suddenly started talking. "Pardon me?"
"You heard me. Telling someone you wouldn't be sorry if they died! It's inexcusable!" She took hold of Will by the sleeve. "Come along, Will. This - this person - obviously isn't worth wasting your time on."
Will looked hugely entertained. "So true."
... Tessa frowned at Gabriel. "I think you owe Will an apology."
"I," said Gabriel, "would rather have my entrails yanked out and tied in a knot in front of my own eyes than apologize to such a worm."
"Goodness," said Jem mildly. "You can't mean that. Not the Will being a worm part, of course. The bit about the entrails. That sounds dreadful. — Cassandra Clare