📖 Meaning
Time and opportunity will not come again. The idiom warns that once a favorable moment passes it can never be recovered, urging one to act decisively and seize the chance while it lasts.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Discourses of the States' (《国语·越语下》), a Warring States-era text chronicling the affairs of the state of Yue. In the Spring and Autumn period, the strategist Fan Li (范蠡) advised King Goujian of Yue (越王勾践) after Yue's humiliating defeat by Wu, counseling patience in rebuilding strength and then striking at the right moment. Fan Li warned the king not to let a favorable opportunity slip, declaring that what Heaven offers yet is refused will turn back into disaster. The full line reads: 'Gain the moment without slackening; time will not come again; what Heaven gives and you do not take becomes calamity.'
💡 Example Usage
事机一失，时不再来，必须当机立断。
Once the opportunity slips away, it will never return — we must decide right now.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 时不再来
- Pinyin: shí bù zài lái
- Literal Translation: time, not, again, come
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4