From: "Zengguang Xianwen", a children's enlightenment book compiled in the Ming Dynasty, the author is unknown.

"An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time" is a saying.

It means: An inch of time is as expensive as an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time. Time is very precious.

Extended information

An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, and an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time. Synonyms of an inch of time: a moment of a thousand gold, a floating cloud and a morning dew

1. A moment of a thousand gold?[ yī kè qiān jīn ]?

Explanation: A moment of time is worth thousands of gold. Time is said to be very precious.

From: Mao Dun's "Midnight" 10: He stopped even sniffing snuff and looked at the clock. It was still more than ten minutes before six o'clock. He could not delay a moment of gold.

2. Floating clouds and morning dew [fú yún zhāo lù]?

Explanation: floating clouds, morning dew. It is a metaphor that time flies and life is short.

From: Tang Cenwen and Cui Renshi's "Book of Zhou·Biography of Xiao Daquan": "Life is like clouds and dew in the morning. I would rather wait for the long rope to see the scenery, but I don't want to."

Translation: Human life is like clouds and morning dew. Waiting for a long time is just to see the scenery. In fact, you don’t want to be like this.

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