Sydney J. Harris: Time lost can never be regained---not for love nor money.
published in Chicago Sun-Times. (sometime after Jan 1, 1980.) date after that, .. unknown..?
A favorite column of mine, and I wanted to share it. I found the column in some saved materials. I have separated paragraphs, so it is easier to read.. Thank You.. Stuart G
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.. I have always dislike the phrase, "Time is money." That is the last thing that time is, for it is irreplaceable, and not all the money in the world can bring it back or halt it or reverse it.
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.. Actually, time is love. People who are always in a hurry, who have no time for anything except the most important matters, fail to understand the nature and needs of love.
...Many a man in our society imagines that he is "supporting" his family by working long hours, attending innumerable meetings and traveling incessantly. But through his motives may be good, his reasoning is faulty.
...No amount of material goods can serve as an effective substitute for time spent with loved ones. The most "neglected" children are not those of the poor, but those of the rice--or those trying to get there. There are no presents as important as presence.
...We have become victims of time. Our schedules are running us, instead of our running them. While it is true that people in the Middle Ages worked many longer hours than we do, a third of the days in a year were devoted to holidays when families were together.
...Time is love in other ways as well--the time we spend with the old, the infirm, the time a doctor spends with a patient, the time a teacher spends with a student in special needs of help, the time a pastor devotes to the personal needs of his flock. In all these areas, all of us are guilty of being dominated by the clock, of rationing our time so that everyone is "taken care of," but no one is really cared for.
...Children of course at the most injured by our obsessive delusion that time is money. Fathers will spend weeks alienated from their children, and imagine that an afternoon's fishing experience or trip to the zoo makes up for this neglect.
..It would be more realistic to turn the proverb around and say, "money is time"-- that the best thing that money can do for you is buy the time to demonstrate your love by your company, your interest, your concern and your pleasure.
...Of course, I recognize that there are millions of broken families where this is hard or impossible, and that millions of mothers with young children must work in order to meet the families bills. But I wonder how many of these might still be together if the father had not put his job before his parental responsibilities. If the mother had not gone to work for reasons other than financial need..
...Time is love, above all else. It is the most precious commodity in the world, and should be lavished on those we care most about. When it is not, retribution is swift and certain and there is no turning back the clock.