Know when to quit. Seneca, Epistles 3.22.5-8

Seneca uses Epicurean and Stoic arguments to recommend escape from busywork. Life is too short and precious to waste upon inanity.

Numquid offenderis si in consilium non venio tantum sed advoco, et quidem prudentiores quam ipse sum, ad quos soleo deferre si quid delibero? Epicuri epistulam ad hanc rem pertinentem lege, Idomeneo quae inscribitur, quem rogat ut quantum potest fugiat et properet, antequam aliqua vis maior interveniat et auferat libertatem recedendi. Idem tamen subicit nihil esse temptandum nisi cum apte poterit tempestiveque temptari; sed cum illud tempus captatum diu venerit, exsiliendum ait. Dormitare de fuga cogitantem vetat et sperat salutarem etiam ex difficillimis exitum, si nec properemus ante tempus nec cessemus in tempore.

Puto, nunc et Stoicam sententiam quaeris. Non est quod quisquam illos apud te temeritatis infamet: cautiores quam fortiores sunt. Exspectas forsitan ut tibi haec dicant: turpe est cedere oneri; luctare cum officio quod semel recepisti. Non est vir fortis ac strenuus qui laborem fugit, nisi crescit illi animus ipsa rerum difficultate. Dicentur tibi ista, si operae pretium habebit perseverantia, si nihil indignum bono viro faciendum patiendumve erit; alioqui sordido se et contumelioso labore non conteret nec in negotiis erit negotii causa. Ne illud quidem quod existimas facturum eum faciet, ut ambitiosis rebus implicitus semper aestus earum ferat; sed cum viderit gravia in quibus volutatur, incerta, ancipitia, referet pedem, non vertet terga, sed sensim recedet in tutum.

Are you going to be offended if I enlist others to counsel us, including some more prudent than I, whose advice I am wont to consult whenever I plan something? Read the letter Epicurus wrote to Idomeneus on this subject, urging him to make as much haste as possible to get away from employment, before some greater power intervene and carry off his freedom of movement. He adds that no attempt to escape should be made without proper regard to conditions and timing. When you have hunted the right moment long enough to see it approach, then you must leap for it, he says. He forbids us to dream of flight, to contemplate or hope for a safe exit from affairs most perilous, if we neglect to shift our butts before the moment of truth, or if we refuse to give our business up when that moment arrives.

Now you want to hear a Stoic opinion, I suppose. Nobody in your company would accuse them of being too rash: they are over-cautious rather than over-bold. But perhaps you are expecting them to say something like this: “'Tis shameful to yield when life gets heavy. Wrestle with the duty you have already received. The man strong and strenuous does not flee hard labor; instead, his spirit rises with the difficulty of the tasks he must confront.” These counsels belong properly to work worth perseverance: they are for you only if you are engaged in something deserving the action and patience of a good man. In other business, the sordid kind that grinds, the good man will not wear himself out; nor will he pursue business for its own sake. He won't even do what you have reason to expect from him, if the only outcome is that he gets to drown forever in the tides of ambition. When he has ascertained the heaviness, uncertainty, and doubtful outcome of the business in which he is involved, he will withdraw his foot rather than give chase. He will not turn tail and run, like a coward, but will make a steady retreat toward safety.