How can I know when to give up on a crush?

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I can’t comment on Adam Taha’s answer, so I’m going to just make one of my own.

My problem with his answer is that he didn’t answer your question. If you just sit down and wait for guys to approach you, your dating life is going to be limited to only those guys. This works fine for attractive girls who get approached lots of times every day, but not all women are so lucky. If you weren’t blessed in the appearance department, you can still have a fun dating life, you just have to put a little effort in. That means pursuing instead of being pursued.

When you are pursuing someone, you’re playing a game of chicken with your emotions. You put yourself out there and hope your feelings are reciprocated, and you keep doing it until you either run out of emotional fortitude, or they reciprocate.

Typically the thing to do at some point is to make an ultimatum. Either reciprocate now or I’m moving on. I normally advise against guys doing this, because it almost never works out in their favor, but I think for girls it can work very well.

One reason guys might waffle on a particular girl that’s interested in him is because while he might be attracted to her, he’s not entirely sure whether he’d be in for having her as a girlfriend. Me personally, I don’t respond to a girl in this situation, I don’t want to hurt her feelings. If she seems open for a fun fling, I might try to go that way, but I give up fast if it starts to look like she’s thinking of me as boyfriend material.

A lady I’m attracted to but not interested in more with could change my mind about having a real relationship with her, but she’d have to be open to a more casual arrangement first so I can explore the reason why I’m attracted to her on a physical level without the lifestyle intrusion of a new girlfriend. It doesn’t happen very often, and honestly that’s probably for the best. Too many dogs out there that would take advantage of women sexually without giving anything back.