一寸光阴一寸金,寸金难买寸光阴

yī cùn guāng yīn yī cùn jīn , cùn jīn nán mǎi cùn guāng yīn

lit. an interval of time is worth an ounce of gold, money cannot buy you time (saying)

fig. time is precious

one

cùn

a unit of length

guāng

light; ray (CL:道[dao4])

yīn

variant of 陰|阴[yin1]

one

cùn

a unit of length

jīn

gold

,

cùn

a unit of length

jīn

gold

nán

difficult (to...)

mǎi

to buy

cùn

a unit of length

guāng

light; ray (CL:道[dao4])

yīn

variant of 陰|阴[yin1]