The Daily Miracle

"Yes, he's one of those men that don't know how to manage. Good situation. Regular income. Quite enough for luxuries as well as needs. Not really extravagant. And yet the fellow's always in difficulties. Somehow he gets nothing out of his money. Excellent flat—half empty! Always looks as if he'd had the brokers in. New suit—old hat! Magnificent necktie—baggy trousers! Asks you to dinner: cut glass—bad mutton, or Turkish coffee—cracked cup! He can't understand it. Explanation simply is that he fritters his income away. Wish I had the half of it! I'd show him—"

"Yes, he's one of those men who don't know how to manage. Good job. Regular income. More than enough for luxuries as well as necessities. Not really extravagant. And yet the fellow is always in financial trouble. Somehow he gets nothing out of his money. Excellent apartment, half empty! It always looks as if debt collectors had been in and taken his things. New suit, old hat! Magnificent tie, baggy trousers! He invites you to dinner: fine crystal glasses and bad mutton, or Turkish coffee in a cracked cup! He can't understand it. The simple explanation is that he fritters his income away. I wish I had half of it! I'd show him what to do with it..."

So we have most of us criticised, at one time or another, in our superior way.

So most of us have criticized in this superior way at one time or another.

We are nearly all chancellors of the exchequer: it is the pride of the moment. Newspapers are full of articles explaining how to live on such-and-such a sum, and these articles provoke a correspondence whose violence proves the interest they excite. Recently, in a daily organ, a battle raged round the question whether a woman can exist nicely in the country on L85 a year. I have seen an essay, "How to live on eight shillings a week." But I have never seen an essay, "How to live on twenty-four hours a day." Yet it has been said that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is a great deal more than money. If you have time you can obtain money—usually. But though you have the wealth of a cloak-room attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more time than I have, or the cat by the fire has.

Nearly all of us are chancellors of the exchequer now. Managing money is the fashion of the moment. Newspapers are full of articles explaining how to live on this or that amount. These articles prompt a flood of letters. The fierceness of the debate shows how much interest they stir up. Recently, a daily newspaper saw a fierce debate over whether a woman could live comfortably in the country on £85 a year. I have seen an essay called "How to live on eight shillings a week." But I have never seen one called "How to live on twenty-four hours a day." Yet people say that time is money. That proverb understates the case. Time is worth a great deal more than money. If you have time, you can usually get money. But even if you have the wealth of a cloakroom attendant at the Carlton Hotel, you cannot buy yourself a minute more than I have, or than the cat by the fire has.

Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions. A highly singular commodity, showered upon you in a manner as singular as the commodity itself!

Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. Time is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all things are possible. Without it, nothing is possible. The daily supply of time is truly a miracle. When you think about it, it is astonishing. You wake up in the morning, and look! Your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the raw fabric of your life’s universe! It is yours. It is your most precious possession. Time is a very unusual thing, and it is showered upon you in a way that is just as unusual!

For remark! No one can take it from you. It is unstealable. And no one receives either more or less than you receive.

Notice this! No one can take it from you. It cannot be stolen. And no one receives more or less than you do.

Talk about an ideal democracy! In the realm of time there is no aristocracy of wealth, and no aristocracy of intellect. Genius is never rewarded by even an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste your infinitely precious commodity as much as you will, and the supply will never be withheld from you. No mysterious power will say:—"This man is a fool, if not a knave. He does not deserve time; he shall be cut off at the meter." It is more certain than consols, and payment of income is not affected by Sundays. Moreover, you cannot draw on the future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste to-morrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

Talk about an ideal democracy! In the world of time, neither wealth nor intellect gives anyone special privileges. Even genius is never rewarded with an extra hour a day. And there is no punishment. Waste this infinitely precious resource as much as you like, and your supply will never be cut off. No mysterious power will say: "This man is a fool, if not a crook. He does not deserve time. His supply will be cut off at the meter." The supply is more reliable than government bonds, and its payments are not affected by Sundays. What's more, you cannot draw on the future. It is impossible to go into debt! You can only waste the present moment. You cannot waste tomorrow, because it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour, because it is kept for you.

I said the affair was a miracle. Is it not?

I said it was a miracle. Isn't it?

You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness—the elusive prize that you are all clutching for, my friends!—depends on that. Strange that the newspapers, so enterprising and up-to-date as they are, are not full of "How to live on a given income of time," instead of "How to live on a given income of money"! Money is far commoner than time. When one reflects, one perceives that money is just about the commonest thing there is. It encumbers the earth in gross heaps.

You have to live on these twenty-four hours each day. From them, you must create health, pleasure, money, contentment, respect, and the growth of your immortal soul. Using your time well and making the most of it is urgently important and thrillingly relevant. Everything depends on it. Your happiness depends on it. And happiness is the elusive prize you are all grasping for, my friends! It is strange that newspapers are not full of "How to live on a given income of time," rather than "How to live on a given income of money"! After all, newspapers are so enterprising and up-to-date. Money is far more common than time. When you think about it, money is just about the most common thing there is. It clutters the earth in huge heaps.

If one can't contrive to live on a certain income of money, one earns a little more—or steals it, or advertises for it. One doesn't necessarily muddle one's life because one can't quite manage on a thousand pounds a year; one braces the muscles and makes it guineas, and balances the budget. But if one cannot arrange that an income of twenty-four hours a day shall exactly cover all proper items of expenditure, one does muddle one's life definitely. The supply of time, though gloriously regular, is cruelly restricted.

If you can't manage on a certain income, you earn a little more, or steal it, or advertise for it. You don't necessarily make a mess of your life because you can't quite manage on a thousand pounds a year. You simply make an effort, turn those pounds into guineas, and balance your budget. But if you can't make your daily income of twenty-four hours cover everything you should spend it on, you do make a mess of your life. The supply of time, though gloriously regular, is cruelly limited.

Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say "lives," I do not mean exists, nor "muddles through." Which of us is free from that uneasy feeling that the "great spending departments" of his daily life are not managed as they ought to be? Which of us is quite sure that his fine suit is not surmounted by a shameful hat, or that in attending to the crockery he has forgotten the quality of the food? Which of us is not saying to himself—which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: "I shall alter that when I have a little more time"?

Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? By "lives," I do not mean merely exists or "muddles through." Who among us does not feel uneasy that the "great spending departments" of daily life are not managed as they should be? Who is sure that a fine suit is not topped by a shameful hat? Or that, in taking care of the dishes, we have not forgotten the quality of the food? Who among us is not saying to ourselves, or has not been saying all our lives: "I shall change that when I have a little more time"?

We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is. It is the realisation of this profound and neglected truth (which, by the way, I have not discovered) that has led me to the minute practical examination of daily time-expenditure.

We will never have any more time. We have, and always have had, all the time there is. This profound truth is often overlooked. I did not discover it, by the way. But realizing it led me to examine in detail how we spend our time each day.