there is also the idea, that "perfection is the enemy of good".. a rabbi taught me that, but i don't if it from the bible, or elsewhere.

This feels closer to what I was looking for. I'd read a more specific quote of it (or similar practice) which was in the front of a book. Of course, I can't recall which one now and I don't seem to have it in my library any more, for looking. It may have even been a clever, artful way of describing the practice, so it felt like a quote, at least in my deteriorated memory of it.