Quotations about:
    wasting time

But time meanwhile is flying, flying beyond recall, while we, charmed with love of our theme, linger around each detail!

[Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus,
singula dum capti circumvectamur amore.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]

Georgics [Georgica], Book 3, l. 284ff (3.284-285) (29 BC) [tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1916)]
    (Source)

After a lengthy description of the springtime mating habits of wild animals and horses, Virgil basically saying, "But I digress ..." (and, a bit more directly, "And there's fifteen minutes you're never getting back").

Origin of the phrase tempus fugit ("time flies").

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

But time irreparable hastes away.
Whil'st we with love transported waste the day.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

But time is lost, which never will renew,⁠
While we too far the pleasing Path pursue;
Surveying Nature, with too nice a view.⁠
[tr. Dryden (1709), l. 448ff]

But, while love's copious themes our course delay,
Time flits, irrevocably flits away.
[tr. Nevile (1767), l. 337]

But time irreparable flies away,
While in the maze of love we fondly stray.
[tr. Sotheby (1800)]

But time flies meanwhile, flies irretrievable, while we, enamoured [of the theme], minutely trace particulars.
[tr. Davidson (1854)]

But time is flying, flying, and for aye,
And we, love's prisoners, on his circuit stray.
[tr. Blackmore (1871)]

But time meanwhile is flying, flying past recall, while, enamoured of our voyage, we are coasting every point.
[tr. Wilkins (1873)]

Fast flies meanwhile the irreparable hour,
As point to point our charmed round we trace.
[tr. Rhoades (1881)]

v

But lo! while we of love seductive sing,
Time onward flies, nor stays his restless wing.
[tr. King (1882), l. 293ff]

But meanwhile Time, Time that cannot be recalled, is fleeting, while enamored of my theme I enter into all details.
[tr. Bryce (1897)]

But time fleets meanwhile, fleets beyond recovery, while in loving enthrallment we pass on and on.
[tr. Mackail (1899)]

But the time meanwhile is fleeting, is fleeting past recall,
While we hover around each flower of the field that holds us in thrall.
[tr. Way (1912)]

But time runs by, irreparable time.
As mastered by my subject's charm, I course
Slowly from point to point.
[tr. Williams (1915)]

But time is on the move still, time that will not return,
While we go cruising around this subject whose lore delights us.
[tr. Day-Lewis (1940)]

But time slides past, slides past beyond recall,
While, spellbound, we drift off among details.
[tr. Bovie (1956)]

But meantime it escapes us, time, never to be recaptured, escapes us while we linger over details, captivated by love. [tr. Miles (1980)]

But time is flying, flying beyond recall.
While captivated I linger lovingly,
Touring from this to that.
[tr. Wilkinson (1982)]

But meanwhile time flies, flies irretrievably,
while, captivated by passion, I describe each detail.
[tr. Kline (2001)]

But meanwhile time flies, it flies beyond recovery
while, captive to each fact, we are carried away by love.
[tr. Lembke (2004)]

Meanwhile, it flies, time flies irretrievably,
while captivated with love we ramble through minutiae.
[tr. Johnson (2009)]

But meanwhile uncoverable time
Is flying, flying past us while we linger,
Enraptured by our theme.
[tr. Ferry (2015)]