- 光阴虚度 guāngyīnxūdù to idle away one's timeTo loaf or fritter away time; to let the years pass by without achieving anything
- 光阴似箭 guāngyīnsìjiàn time flies like an arrow(idiom) Time passes very quickly. Often used with [[日月如梭|日月如梭|ri4 yue4 ru2 suo1]] to emphasize the swiftness of time.
- 光阴荏苒 guāngyīnrěnrǎn how time flies(idiom) time passes very quickly
- 一寸光阴一寸金 yīcùnguāngyīnyīcùnjīn time is precious(saying) time is money; literally an inch of time is worth an inch of gold
- 寸金难买寸光阴 cùnjīnnánmǎicùnguāngyīn time is more precious than gold(proverb) an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time; money cannot buy back wasted time
- 光阴如箭 guāngyīnrújiàn time flies like an arrowtime passes quickly like a flying arrow
- 光阴如电 guāngyīnrúdiàn time flies like lightningtime passes very quickly; often used to express how rapidly years go by
- 一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴 yīcùnguāngyīnyīcùnjīncùnjīnnánmǎicùnguāngyīn time is preciousLiterally "an inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy that inch of time"; used as a proverb to emphasize that time is extremely valuable and cannot be bought back once lost.
- 虚度光阴 xūdùguāngyīn to waste timeTo fritter or idle away one's time; to waste time on worthless activities.
