Patience and long-term thinking
A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.
— Charles Darwin (1809–1882), The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (1887), volume I, chapter VI: "The Voyage", page 266; letter to sister Susan Elizabeth Darwin (4 August 1836)

Patience and long-term thinking

What it means

Writing home during the Beagle voyage, Darwin judges that wasting even an hour shows we do not yet understand what life is worth.

About the author

Charles Darwin — English naturalist and biologist (1809–1882).

Source and verification

Source
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (1887), volume I, chapter VI: "The Voyage", page 266; letter to sister Susan Elizabeth Darwin (4 August 1836)
Reference
Charles Darwin on Wikiquote
Checked
Wording and source taken from the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page, which cites the work given here (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright
Public domain: the author died in 1882.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

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