Charles Dickens is widely believed to have coined the phrase “Procrastination is the thief of time” in the following passage belonging to his book “David Copperfield”.
“My advice is, never do tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him”.
However, this is a misconception and although the phrase has been popularized through the work of Charles Dickens, it was originally coined more than 100 years earlier by the 18th Century poet Edward Young in his poem ‘Night-Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality’. The poem is often referred to more simply as ‘Night-Thoughts’.
A book written in 1791 by James Boswell entitled ‘Life of Samuel Johnson’, refers to the poem as “the grandest and richest poetry that human genius has ever produced”.
The poem was written between 1742 and 1745 and was published in 9 parts. Each part is a poem in it’s own right with each one being dedicated to a different person. The poem depicts the poet’s contemplation on death over a series of 9 nights and where he ponders over the loss of his wife, and friends and laments our inadequacies as human beings.
Young is not simply warning us against delaying or putting something off. He is also suggesting that we waste time working on meaningless activities or doing things of little or no consequence rather than doing something more productive with our time.
The quote “Procrastination is the thief of time” can be found at the end of the first night and is part of the following passage in which he discusses how quickly life and opportunities can slip away from us.
Be wise today ‘t is madness to defer
Next day the fatal precedent will plead
Thus on till wisdom is pushed out of life
Procrastination is the thief of time
Year after year it steals, till all are fled
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene.
It is crucial to learn from Young’s warning not to postpone important activities until tomorrow, since time will fly by until eventually there will be no more time left to delay.
In the end, by following his advice, you’ll get the important things done and accomplish all the things you want to achieve.
