The problem of the renounce to the action is presented here. The analysis is based upon two literary texts: Notes from the Underground by Fedor Dostoievski and Rayuela by Julio Cortazar. A dialogue is set up between the thoughts about inaction of the characters from these two works. They are analyzed under the light of some proposals by Virginia Woolf, Friedrich Nietzsche, Giorgio Agamben and of the story Bartleby, the scrivener by Herman Melville.