Chasing Eagles: When Ambition Outruns Wisdom
Proverbs 23:4-5 says, "Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle."
That feels especially sharp in a world where productivity is almost a value system of its own. We're often taught to push harder, wake up earlier, hustle longer. The idea of stepping back and asking whether the goal is worth the effort—whether it's even achievable in a lasting way—is not the usual script.
Wisdom Over Burnout (A Radical Idea)
There’s a kind of warning in these verses, but not a scolding one. It doesn’t say, "Don’t work," or even, "Don’t care about money." It says, essentially: be smart about what you’re chasing. There’s an edge of realism here. Wealth, it suggests, is slippery. Even if you manage to grab it, it might not stay.
I wonder how this lands differently depending on your own experience with money. If you’ve struggled financially, these lines might sound dismissive at first—as if giving up is somehow wise. But if you’ve been burned by burnout, or by chasing a dream that didn’t deliver, it might feel more like hard-earned wisdom.
Success Doesn’t Always Mean More
It also makes me think about what we’re told about success. So much of the messaging is about constant movement—climbing ladders, scaling businesses, optimizing time. But this proverb seems to value restraint. Knowing when to quit isn’t failure here; it’s insight. That flips the script a bit.
The image of wealth sprouting wings is vivid. It suggests that even if you catch up to it, you might not hold on to it. It also implies that wealth has a kind of autonomy—it moves on its own, regardless of your effort. That’s a strange thought. We often think of money as something we control through good decisions, hard work, or discipline. But this verse hints at forces beyond us.
Quit While You're Ahead (Literally)
What’s most interesting to me is the phrase, "be wise enough to know when to quit." It doesn’t define what "enough" is. Enough money? Enough effort? Enough stress? It seems like each person might have to decide that line for themselves. That part isn’t spelled out.
There’s something freeing in that ambiguity. Instead of laying down a rule, it puts the responsibility back on the reader. Not just to work hard, but to think hard. To know your limits, not just your goals.
Reading this, I’m not sure where the line is for me. I want to be ambitious, but not consumed. Productive, but not depleted. There’s no formula here. Just a reminder that even the best pursuits can have diminishing returns, and that wisdom sometimes looks like letting go.