Time Is Money
Time spent has direct monetary value — the founding proverb of American capitalism.
Origin
Coined by Benjamin Franklin in *Advice to a Young Tradesman* (1748): 'Remember that time is money.' Franklin's essays on industry and frugality, distributed through almanacs and reprinted in countless American papers, fused Puritan work ethic with bookkeeping and gave English the dominant proverbial frame for thinking about productivity. Max Weber later treated the line as the ur-text of the capitalist spirit.
Modern usage
Reflexive defense of urgency, billable hours, expedited shipping, and skipping meetings. Quoted by lawyers, consultants, and anyone justifying a high hourly rate. Cited by Weber-reading sociologists and parodied by anyone trying to argue against productivity culture.
In the wild
Remember that time is money.— Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman, 1748
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