Between the determinism of religion and the randomness of everyday life, anybody should be able to find an excuse for taking it easy, going with the flow, and relax on a Sunday afternoon. Indeed, our lives are to a large extent determined by random events (or God’s unpredictable will), and effort may seem pointless, especially if the odds are discouraging.  

However, there is no excuse for giving up. If Joanne Rowling had given up after her manuscript had been rejected 12 times, we would never have known the amazing world of Harry Potter (1). If John Grisham had quit after having his first novel rejected 28 times, we wouldn’t have seen him on the top of the bestseller list almost every year for the last 20 years (2). If George Lucas hadn’t persevered despite Universal calling his manuscript “unproducible,” the Star Wars series wouldn’t have won 10 Academy Awards and grossed several billion dollars at the box office (3).