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Exactly, agreed.

Antoine de Saint-exupéry had a similar way to put it: "It's the time you wasted on your rose that makes your rose so important"

I don't know why he chose that word, but I love that choice "waste" (perdre in original French). So telling.

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The above translation is common, but I always thought it was not ideal. The much more common use in french for "perdre" is not "to waste", but "to lose", as in "The time you lost ...".

I think this captures the spirit even better, since the time sure is lost, but not wasted.

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