Stitches

What does the term "A Thief in Time saves 9" or "A Thief of Time saves 9" means?

my professor is asking me to write an essay about this.. but i dont know what's the meaning of it.. i know there is a saying a stitch of time saves 9 but not a thief of time saves 9?? please help That's what he put on the board.. this is confusing.. i cannot find anything relate to this quote..

Public Comments

1. He's probably got it mixed up. No such saying.
2. 'procrastination is the thief of time"
3. A stitch in time saves nine, other than that it doesn't exist.
4. The fact that you've given two options (thief OF time, thief IN time) suggests to me that maybe you've made a mistake somewhere else, and maybe your professor didn't write exactly this on the board?If he did, which version did he write? As other people have already said, the two usual sayings are: A stitch in time saves nine; and Procrastination is the thief of time. Is it possible your professor is asking you to use your imagination and wit to come up with something different? Of course, it's possible he simply made a mistake if he was in a hurry. Why not check with him if this is what he really meant?
5. That doesn't even make sense. Are you sure your professor isn't suffering from dementia? It sounds like he's mixing up two expressions (both already quoted by the others). There's no logical reason why it would take 9 thieves to steal something one could steal, and I don't see any positive lesson to be learned from that even if it were true. [edit] Bluebell has a very good point. If you're not sure whether it was "in" or "of" you may be mistaken about other parts of it. If you didn't write it down at the time, you may not be quoting exactly what he wrote on the board. Just ask him to repeat it.