寸金难买寸光阴

Traditional form:

寸金難買寸光陰

Pinyin (reading):

cùnjīnnánmǎicùnguāngyīn

Definitions:

• An ounce of gold can't buy you an interval of time (idiom); Money can't buy you time.
• Time is precious.

Characters:

• 寸 - inch; small, tiny
• 金 - gold, metal; money
• 难 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 买 - to buy, to purchase; to bribe, to persuade
• 寸 - inch; small, tiny
• 光 - light; bright, brilliant; only, merely
• 阴 - the female principle; dark, shaded; hidden, implicit, secret

Traditional characters:

• 寸 - inch; small, tiny
• 金 - gold, metal; money
• 難 - hard, difficult, arduous; unable
• 買 - to buy, to purchase; to bribe, to persuade
• 寸 - inch; small, tiny
• 光 - light; bright, brilliant; only, merely
• 陰 - the female principle; dark, shaded; hidden, implicit, secret