There are circumstances where retreat is not sufficient. Surrender is sometimes not just appropriate, but the only rational option. There’s no valor in hopeless contest, just fuel for obsession.
There were times when soldiers could be sentenced to death for carrying on a fight for a fort long lost. Our culture is less clear about such situations. We reward persistence, celebrate the rare occasions when it leads to success, but we also punish harshly those who hold on without reward.
Our social rewards are based on end results, to the victor the spoils. We therefore lack any meaningful guide. Perhaps we should celebrate the people who give up. Even if it consists of friends offering solace and kindness, loss must lose stigma. Give plentiful credit for knowing the right time to give up.