>>Well, you still have your nose, so you must have looked away from the grindstone now and then.
>>The point of the aphorism is that if you're continually grinding away and not getting anywhere, it's time to stop and look around.
>>
>>So what, exactly, is your point? There is more to life than work. That doesn't mean that it is a bad idea to work hard.
>
>Nope.
>Hard work never hurt anyone and it's a prerequisite for just about anything of value.
>But if you're working hard and not achieving what you want to achieve, maybe you're not working hard at the right thing.

Or, at some critical point, you realize you are a software engineer - the hard stuff is not for you, it's for the hardware guys. Do it softly or change the venue.