Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.

The saying urges a shift from outward judgment to inward discipline. By framing self-improvement as “refining” and “improving,” it suggests an ongoing, craftsmanlike process rather than a one-time moral correction. The practical claim is that attention is finite: if you invest your energy in becoming wiser, kinder, or more competent, you will have less appetite and less leisure for fault-finding. Ethically, it treats criticism of others as a common distraction—often a way to avoid confronting one’s own shortcomings. The quote aligns with a broadly self-help and character-formation tradition that values personal responsibility and humility over social comparison.