Time is money. Every hour spent idle is an hour of potential income lost. The proverb urges efficiency, punctuality, and a calculating attitude toward how one spends one's hours.
Though the phrase is universally attributed to Benjamin Franklin's 1748 essay 'Advice to a Young Tradesman,' the idea was not new and Italian merchants had expressed it in various forms long before. The Republic of Venice, the trading cities of Florence and Genoa, and later the textile manufacturers of Lombardy all operated on a culture where time wasted was profit lost. Italian banking families of the Renaissance kept meticulous double-entry accounts precisely because they understood that capital left idle earned nothing. The Franklin formulation was translated into Italian and quickly absorbed into common speech in the 19th century as industrialization transformed northern Italy. It became a slogan of the emerging bourgeoisie and a point of friction with older agricultural rhythms where the pace of life was set by seasons, not clocks. Today it is one of the most-quoted proverbs in Italian business culture, appearing on motivational posters, in management seminars, and in the mouths of parents urging their children to stop wasting afternoons.
Popularized in Italian via Benjamin Franklin (1748), but the concept was native to Italian merchant culture centuries earlier.
A business owner scolding an employee who arrived late to a client meeting
Sei arrivato venti minuti in ritardo. Il cliente aspettava. Il tempo è denaro — tuo e mio.
You arrived twenty minutes late. The client was waiting. Time is money — yours and mine.
A freelancer explaining why she charges for every hour
So che la mia tariffa sembra alta, ma ogni ora che passo sul tuo progetto è un'ora che non posso dedicare ad altro. Il tempo è denaro.
I know my rate seems high, but every hour I spend on your project is an hour I cannot dedicate to anything else. Time is money.
A father pushing his son to stop procrastinating on job applications
Smettila di aspettare il momento perfetto. Manda i curriculum adesso. Il tempo è denaro e tu lo stai sprecando.
Stop waiting for the perfect moment. Send the CVs now. Time is money and you are wasting it.
Two traders discussing a deal that dragged on too long
Abbiamo passato tre settimane a trattare per risparmiare duecento euro. Il tempo è denaro — avremmo già potuto chiudere altri due contratti.
We spent three weeks negotiating to save two hundred euros. Time is money — we could have already closed two other contracts.