Time takes its toll

What does the phrase, "Time takes its toll on us" really mean and how did it come to be an expression?

Aging, the passage of time, extracts a price. Time wears down, weathers objects and people. But the passage of time can also add patina -- a surface appearance of something grown beautiful, especially with age or use (Merriam-Webster). Of course, wild women improve with age. www.now.org/ cgi-bin/store/TS-WIA.html

That's my little essay. Anyone have an origin?

I would say that the basic idiom here is "X takes its toll", "time" being just one of the possible agents; many things can take their toll on us, such as parenthood, chronic illness, our careers. The metaphor is of a toll road - you can travel down it, but only at a price. My guess is that the metaphor became popular in the 18th century, when many of England's roads were built and maintained by turnpike trusts which levied tolls on their users. (VSD)