在 medium 上看到一篇讲查理卓别林的 文章。查理说起了自己小时候学小提琴的事情，那时候他很认真地去学习小提琴，也想要成为伟大的演奏家，但慢慢地他发现自己做不到，于是他 放弃了：
“Since the age of sixteen I had practised [the violin] from four to six hours a day in my bedroom. Each week I took lessons from the theatre conductor or from someone he recommended. … I had great ambitions to be a concert artist, or, failing that, to use it in a vaudeville act, but as time went on I realized that I could never achieve excellence, so I gave it up.”
我们看过很多励志的东西，叫我们不放弃。但也有时候，我们放弃太晚了，以至于没时间去做真正重要或者适合的事情。那，假如我们在做事情的开始，就想好何时该放弃如何？这样会很软弱吗？这样会让我们更容易放弃吗？作者引用了这样一段话：
“Here’s a quote from ultramarathoner Dick Collins: Decide before the race the conditions that will cause you to stop and drop out. You don’t want to be out there saying, ‘Well gee, my leg hurts, I’m a little dehydrated, I’m sleepy, I’m tired, and it’s cold and windy.’ And talk yourself into quitting. If you are making a decision based on how you feel at that moment, you will probably make the wrong decision.”
恰恰相反，因为提前设定好了放弃的条件，不会在条件不到时就放弃了。