Do not brood over the past, or dream of the future, but seize the instant and _get your lesson from the hour_.

The man is yet unborn who rightly measures and fully realizes the value of an hour.

As Fenelon says, God never gives but one moment at a time, and does not give a second until he withdraws the first.
Lord Brougham could not bear to lose a moment, yet he was so systematic that he always seemed to have more leisure than many who did not accomplish a tithe of what he did.

He achieved distinction in politics, law, science, and literature.
Dr.Johnson wrote "Rasselas" in the evenings of a single week, in order to meet the expenses of his mother's funeral.
Lincoln studied law during his spare hours while surveying, and learned the common branches unaided while tending store.

Mrs.Somerville learned botany and astronomy and wrote books while her neighbors were gossiping and idling.