When it's time to fight, more often than not, you should fight.
But before you do, think about the circumstances of that fight. Do the conditions favor you, or are you fighting an uphill battle as an underdog? If you go rushing in without giving thought to whether a pause would work in your favor by swaying things your way, you could be setting yourself up to take a loss instead of a win.
If your emotions are so intense that they blind you from seeing things as they truly are, perhaps it's better to take a step back. Patience is a gift that wise people give themselves and a good part of the reason why they often choose the right time and the place to produce victories.
Patience is difficult to master and often has a lot of second-guessing attached to it when you don't have all the information or resources that you need.
Gathering these things is sometimes the best action you can take instead of direct engagement.
When you can win by tipping the right conditions and battlefields in your favor, you give yourself a distinct advantage in winning whatever war it is that you're fighting.