Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.

The statesman and sage, Benjamin Disraeli, once gave us a saying of profound weight: “Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.” In this utterance, he set side by side two of life’s greatest treasures: the fleeting river of hours and the eternal flame of truth. For while every man knows that time is limited and therefore valuable, Disraeli reminds us that there is something higher still, something that does not fade with the clock nor with the turning of the years—truth itself.

To call time precious is to honor the shortness of our days. The wise have always taught that we must not waste the hours given to us, for they slip like sand through the fingers and never return. Kingdoms rise and fall in the span of a generation; a human life is but a morning dew before the blazing sun. To squander time is to squander the very gift of existence. Thus, men labor to use their days well, to fill them with accomplishment, joy, and meaning.

Yet Disraeli declares that truth is more precious still. Why? Because truth is eternal, unbound by the ticking of the clock. A single moment of truth outweighs years of falsehood. Time passes, but truth endures; time may conceal, but truth will one day be revealed. To win time without truth is to gain nothing, for what profit is there in living long if one lives in deception? But to cling to truth, even if it costs us time, even if it costs us life itself, is to gain eternity.

History itself testifies to this. Recall the tale of Socrates, brought to trial in Athens, accused of corrupting the youth and dishonoring the gods. He was given a choice: to save his life by denying his truth, or to hold fast to truth and lose his remaining time. Socrates chose truth. He drank the cup of hemlock, and though his body perished, his wisdom endured across the ages. The years he might have saved are long forgotten, but the truth he spoke remains immortal, shaping the minds of countless generations.

So too in every age, men and women have faced this choice: to preserve time by betraying truth, or to sacrifice time for the sake of truth. The coward clings to hours and loses honor; the hero clings to truth and transcends hours. It is in this sense that Disraeli’s words shine as a guiding star: truth is not only more lasting than time, but more noble, more sacred, more worthy of our devotion.

The lesson for us is clear. Guard your time as treasure, but guard your truth as your very soul. Do not spend your life in fear of death or delay, for the measure of life is not how many days we have, but how truthfully we live them. When faced with a choice between comfort and truth, choose truth; when faced with a choice between delay and honesty, choose honesty. For time lost may sting, but truth lost will poison the heart forever.

Practical action lies here: speak with honesty, even when silence would be easier. Stand for what is right, even when it costs you dearly. Live each day as though time is precious, but weigh each decision as though truth is more precious still. In this balance you will find both wisdom and freedom.

Thus, O children of tomorrow, carry Disraeli’s words within you: “Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.” For though the hours may slip away, the truth you guard will endure beyond the grave, beyond the ages, beyond the very flow of time itself. And in that truth lies the path to immortality.