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Full Idea
A man who is thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean ought not to let himself drown, even though there is very litte chance of his reaching safety, but to go on swimming till exhausted.
Gist of Idea
Even if a drowning man is doomed, he should keep swimming to the last
Source
Simone Weil (Prospects: Proletarian Revolution? [1933], p.21)
Book Ref
Weil,Simone: 'Oppression and Liberty' [Routledge 1955], p.21
A Reaction
You might survive a little longer if you don't exhaust yourself! Not clear where her authority for 'ought' comes from, but it expresses an interesting attitude.