Procrastination is the thief of time.

Meaning: Delaying tasks gradually steals away your hours until nothing remains to complete them.

Origin: From Edward Young's long poem Night Thoughts (1742): "Procrastination is the thief of time; / Year after year it steals, till all are fled." The poem was hugely popular for a century, and this line outlived the rest of it.

More proverbs about Perseverance

From our idioms

  • blow off steam — To express one's anger, usually noisily and harmlessly, thereby relieving one's tension.
  • blue — Sad.
  • blue law — A law which regulates personal behavior such as going to certain movies, dancing, or gamb…

Browse all idioms →

← Back to Proverbs