“Know how to wait: everything comes to him who knows how to wait.”Baltasar Gracián · Oracolul manual · 1647 · aforismul 13
Waiting isn't passivity; it's the power to let circumstances work for you.
Gracián writes for courtiers and worldly people, where haste betrays ambition and exposes you. Waiting does not mean standing idle, but letting circumstances ripen while you keep your advantage. Someone negotiating a salary who refuses the first offer, letting the employer come back, turns time into leverage.
Why it matters Useful in negotiation, career and investing: it resists the lure of instant results and plays the long game.