Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have.

The saying is presented as something Carl Sandburg told journalist Ralph McGill during a conversation McGill later described in a newspaper column. The earliest located appearance is McGill’s 1959 column, and later reprints often credit Sandburg while noting (sometimes) that McGill was the intermediary.

Time is treated as each person’s limited personal currency: you control how it is spent, and you should guard against letting others dictate your priorities or consume your attention.

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how to spend it. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

Time is the coin of your life. You spend it. Do not allow others to spend it for you.

Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.