“A long time. Right on time. Out of time. Mind the time. Be on time. Spare time. Keep time. Stall for time.There are as many expressions with "time" as there are minutes in a day.But once, there was no word for it at all. Because no one was counting.”

“Consider the word “time.” We use so many phrases with it. Pass time. Waste time. Kill time. Lose time. In good time. About time. Take your time. Save time. A long time. Right on time. Out of time. Mind the time. Be on time. Spare time. Keep time. Stall for time. There are as many expressions with “time” as there are minutes in a day. But once, there was no word for it at all. Because no one was counting. Then Dor began. And everything changed.”

“Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.”

“As mankind grew obsessed with its hours, the sorrow of lost time became a permanent hole in the human heart. People fretted over missed chances, over inefficient days; they worried constantly about how long they would live, because counting life’s moments had led, inevitably, to counting them down. Soon, in every nation and in every language, time became the most precious commodity.”

“Dor came from a time before the written word, a timewhen if you wished to speak with someone, you walked to see them. This time was different. The tools ofthis era—phones, computers—enabled people to move at a blurring pace. Yet despite all theyaccomplished, they were never at peace. They constantly checked their devices to see what time it was—the very thing Dor had tried to determine once with a stick, a stone, and a shadow.”

“The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone.”

“Dor shook his head. “The phrase. What does it mean?”Sarah wondered if he was kidding. “Time flies? You know, like, time goes really fast and suddenly you’re saying goodbyeand it’s like no time passed at all?”His eyes drifted. He liked it. “Time flies.”“With you,” she added.”