“An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time.”
From "Zengguang Xianwen", it means that an inch of time is as expensive as an inch of gold, but an inch of gold is difficult to buy an inch of time. Time is very precious.
It is often used to persuade people to cherish time and not waste it. Time is precious, once it has passed you can never get it back.
Extended information
An idiom describing an inch of time is worth an inch of gold, and an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time:
1. A moment of gold
Definition : A moment of time is worth thousands of gold. Time is said to be very precious.
Source: Mao Dun's "Midnight" 10: "He stopped even sniffing snuff. He looked at the clock and saw that it was still more than ten minutes before six o'clock. He could not delay a moment of gold."
2. Fight against every second
Definition: It means that every minute and every second must be fought for. Describes seizing time.
Source: "Book of Jin·Biography of Tao Kan": "The sage Dayu cherished every inch of yin. As for everyone, we should cherish every yin."
Translation: Dayu was a sage, and he also cherished every inch of yin. If we cherish time like this, for all of us, we should cherish time even more.