When we stumble upon to goldmine at the end of the valley we extol the virtue of PERSEVERANCE

When we waste our lives seeking gold which was never there we curse STUBBORNNESS

Get over this black-and-white thinking. Be neither stubborn nor persevering but INTELLIGENT instead.

Plough on a little bit longer than it seems promising

Correct course a little bit earlier than you preplanned

You don’t know what to do and that’s ok. Don’t call it stubborn or persevering. Don’t generalise it beforehand and don’t generalise it afterwards! Just be intelligent while you’re at it and do DO the right thing when it’s the right thing.

Facile generalisations mislead.

Your susceptibility to one-size-fits-all approach makes you stupid.

You speak in terms of perseverance of stubbornness when there is nothing to speak of.

Be humble. Hold off your generalisations. Act instead and accept uncertainty. Don’t bury it under some cliche maxim.