Marguerite Yourcenar Quotes

Duty is the demand of the hour.

There just isn't enough time for everything on our 'to do' list - and there never will be. Successful people don't try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get done.

Let each hour of the day have its allotted duty, and cultivate that power of concentration which grows with its exercise.

If you don't have time, the truth is, you don't have priorities. Think harder; don't work harder.

What is urgent will always take precedence over what is important.

When habit has strengthened our sense of duties, they leave us no time for other things; but when young we neglect them and this gives us time for anything.

Every duty which is bidden to wait returns with seven fresh duties at its back.

No time for poetry but exactly what is.

Leave for tomorrow what you can't do today.

The Things to do are: the things that need doing, that you see need to be done, and that no one else seems to see need to be done.

With my responsibilities comes having to manage my time more efficiently.

Otherwise, my whole career has just been flinging myself at whatever is most overdue first and letting everything else stack up.

What one has to do usually can be done.

Do the duty which lies nearest to you, the second duty will then become clearer.

First things first, second things never.

From a productivity perspective, prioritization is key. And it's very easy to focus on clearing the decks of minutia, especially when one's very busy.

In the morning, I look at my calendar and think about whether things that aren't critical can be moved to the next week.

The interruption we now impatiently put off may be the most important thing we could be doing at this particular time?

I have something more to do than to feel.

Do one thing at a time. Start the day with a list of things you have to do, and do the most important things first. Even if you don't get the list done, you've gotten the most important things done. So many people spend so much time on things that aren't important.

Learn to differentiate between what is truly important and what can be dealt with at another time.

Compile your to-do list for tomorrow no later than this evening.

As he that lives longest lives but a little while, every man may be certain that he has no time to waste. The duties of life are commensurate to its duration; and every day brings its task, which, if neglected, is doubled on the morrow.

Work first, and then rest.

I have reached the end of my time, and have hardly come to the beginning of my task.