In the aphorism of Edison, the king of inventors,

'Most people who fail in life are those who didn't realise how close they were to success when they gave up.'

I, having lived for half a century, know what I know.

"Edison, you idiot"

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'Not giving up' may be important, but 'not giving up' has a negative cost in terms of enormous time, cost and impact on those around you - making not only you but also those around you unhappy.

Especially, one of the impact to me, is "destory my mind, and to the worst, kill myself".

'Getting started' is easy.

However, 'giving it up' is 100 times more difficult and painful than "getting started".

That is the 'curse of sunk costs'.

'Giving up' is harder than 'getting started' and, therefore, more worthwhile.

Stupid Edison didn't seem to realise it. I, however, know that.

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I have recently been reading a lot of books on cults

The 'curse of sunk costs' has been found to be a psychological factor in people's inability to leave cults.