Jesuit priest and writer Baltasar Gracian
on the value of leaving things alone:

“Know how to leave things alone, for if knowing how to refuse is one of life’s great lessons, an even greater one is knowing how to say no to yourself, to important people, and in business. There are non-essential activities, moths of precious time, and it’s worse to take an interest in irrelevant things than to do nothing at all.”

The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence

“Everything is at its Acme; especially the art of
making one’s way in the world. There is more
required nowadays to make a single wise man
than formerly to make Seven Sages, and more is
needed nowadays to deal with a single person
than was required with a whole people in former
times.”

The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence