The only commodity he wished he could buy much of

When William James marveled at Osler's energy and interests, Osler is said to have told James that he was fearfully conscious of time, that it was the only commodity he wished he could buy much of, because there was so much he could do with it. If there was any undertone of sadness in a happy and wonderfully successful life, it flowed from Osler's understanding that there is no final escape from the oblivion of the grave and the dead house.

—from William Osler: A Life in Medicine by Michael Bliss (read it)