Complex sentence: The most important of all is the most difficult and basic of all skills-observation itself, and just behind observation and almost equally important is having the time to dawdle, make mistakes, chase down known dead ends, and just play.
Split into simpler sentences: The most important of all is the most difficult and basic of all skills-observation itself. Just behind observation and almost equally important is having the time to dawdle, make mistakes, chase down known dead ends, and just play.