They Did Not Give Up so you should not give up your
dreams .
50 famous people who were repeatedly rejected early
in their careers but went on to become household
names...
Albert Einstein
Did not speak until he was 4-years-old and did not read
until he was 7. His parents thought he was "sub-
normal," and one of his teachers described him as
"mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in foolish
dreams." He was expelled from school and was
refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.
He did eventually learn to speak and read. Even to do a
little math.
Beethoven
Handled the violin awkwardly and preferred playing his
own compositions instead of improving his technique.
His teacher called him "hopeless as a composer." And,
of course, you know that he wrote five of his greatest
symphonies while completely deaf.
Leo Tolstoy
Flunked out of college. He was described as both
"unable and unwilling to learn." No doubt a slow
developer.
Walt Disney
Was fired by a newspaper editor because "he lacked
imagination and had no good ideas." He went bankrupt
several times before he built Disneyland. In fact, the
proposed park was rejected by the city of Anaheim on
the grounds that it would only attract riffraff.
Winston Churchill
Failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in
every election for public office until he became Prime
Minister at the age of 62. He later wrote, "Never give in,
never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing,
great or small, large or petty - never give in except to
convictions of honor and good sense. Never, Never,
Never, Never give up." (his capitals, mind you)
Thomas Edison
His teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything."
He was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-
productive." As an inventor, Edison made 1,000
unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When
a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?"
Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb
was an invention with 1,000 steps."
Abraham Lincoln
As a young man went to war a captain and returned a
private. Afterwards, he was a failure as a businessman.
As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical and
temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics
and was defeated in his first try for the legislature,
again defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for
congress, defeated in his application to be
commissioner of the General Land Office, defeated in
the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in his efforts
for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the
senatorial election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote
in a letter to a friend, "I am now the most miserable
man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the
whole human family, there would not be one cheerful
face on the earth."
Sigmund Freud
Was booed from the podium when he first presented
his ideas to the scientific community of Europe. He
returned to his office and kept on writing.
Charles Darwin
Gave up a medical career and was told by his father,
"You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat
catching." In his autobiography, Darwin wrote, "I was
considered by all my masters and my father, a very
ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of
intellect." Clearly, he evolved.
Vince Lombardi
An expert said of him: "He possesses minimal football
knowledge and lacks motivation." Lombardi would later
write, "It's not whether you get knocked down; it's
whether you get back up."
Babe Ruth
Is famous for his past home run record, but for
decades he also held the record for strikeouts. He hit
714 home runs and struck out 1,330 times in his career
(about which he said, "Every strike brings me closer to
the next home run.". And didn't Mark McGwire break
that strikeout record? (John Wooden once explained
that winners make the most errors.)
Michael Jordan & Bob Cousy
Were each cut from their high school basketball teams.
Jordan once observed, "I've failed over and over again
in my life. That is why I succeed."
Stan Smith
was rejected as a ball boy for a Davis Cup tennis match
because he was "too awkward and clumsy." He went on
to clumsily win Wimbledon and the U. S. Open. And
eight Davis Cups.
Charles Schultz
Had every cartoon he submitted rejected by his high
school yearbook staff. Oh, and Walt Disney wouldn't
hire him.
Fred Astaire
After his first screen test the memo from the testing
director of MGM, dated 1933, read, "Can't act. Can't
sing. Slightly bald. Can dance a little." He kept that
memo over the fire place in his Beverly Hills home.
Astaire once observed that "when you're
experimenting, you have to try so many things before
you choose what you want, that you may go days
getting nothing but exhaustion." And here is the
reward for perseverance: "The higher up you go, the
more mistakes you are allowed. Right at the top, if you
make enough of them, it's considered to be your style."
Sidney Poitier
After his first audition was told by the casting director,
"Why don't you stop wasting people's time and go out
and become a dishwasher or something?" It was at that
moment, recalls Poitier, that he decided to devote his
life to acting.
Lucille Ball
When she began studying to be actress in 1927, she
was told by the head instructor of the John Murray
Anderson Drama School, "Try any other profession."
Jerry Seinfeld
The first time he walked on-stage at a comedy club as a
professional comic, he looked out at the audience,
froze, and forgot the English language. He stumbled
through "a minute-and a half" of material and was
jeered offstage. He returned the following night and
closed his set to wild applause.
Marilyn Monroe
In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book
Modeling Agency, told modeling hopeful Norma Jean
Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get
married." I'm sure you know that Norma Jean was
Marilyn Monroe. Now . . . who was Emmeline Snively?
Jeanne Moreau
At the age of 21 was told by a casting director that her
head was too crooked, she wasn't beautiful enough,
and she wasn't photogenic enough to make it in films.
She took a deep breath and said to herself, "Alright,
then, I guess I will have to make it my own way." After
making nearly 100 films her own way, in 1997 she
received the European Film Academy Lifetime
Achievement Award.
Harrison Ford
After his first performance as a hotel bellhop in the
film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round, the studio vice-
president called him in to his office. "Sit down kid," the
studio head said, "I want to tell you a story. The first
time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie he delivered a
bag of groceries. We took one look at him and knew he
was a movie star." Ford replied, "I thought you were
supposed to think that he was a grocery delivery boy."
The vice president dismissed Ford with "You ain't got it
kid , you ain't got it ... now get out of here."
Michael Caine
His headmaster told him, "You will be a laborer all your
life."
Charlie Chaplin
Was initially rejected by Hollywood studio chiefs
because his pantomime was considered "nonsense."
Enrico Caruso
His music teacher said he had no voice at all and could
not sing. His parents wanted him to become an
engineer.
The Beatles
Were turned down by Decca Records who said "We
don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their
way out." After Decca rejected the Beatles, Columbia
records followed suit.
Elvis Presley
Was fired in 1945 by Jimmy Denny, manager of the
Grand Ole Opry, after one performance. He told
Presley, "You ain't goin' nowhere, son. You ought to go
back to drivin' a truck."
The Impressionists
Had to arrange their own art exhibitions because their
works were routinely rejected by the Paris Salon. How
many of you have heard of the Paris Salon?
Picasso
A Paris art dealer refused him shelter when he asked if
he could bring in his paintings from out of the rain.
One hopes that there is justice in this world and that
the art dealer eventually went broke.
Van Gogh
Sold only one painting during his life. And this to the
sister of one of his friends for 400 francs
(approximately $50). This didn't stop him from
completing over 800 paintings.
John Constable
His luminous painting Watermeadows at Salisbury was
dismissed in 1830 by a judge at the Royal Academy as
"a nasty green thing."
Auguste Rodin
His father once said, "I have an idiot for a son."
Described as the worst pupil in the school, he was
rejected three times admittance to the Ecole des
Beaux-Arts. His uncle called him uneducable. Perhaps
this gave him food for thought.
Igor Stravinsky
Was run out of town by an enraged audience and
critics after the first performance of the Rite of Spring.
Louisa May Alcott
The author of 'Little Women' was encouraged to find
work as a servant by her family.
E.E Cummings
15 published rejected his manuscript. When he finally
got it published by his mother, the dedication, printed
in uppercase letters, read WITH NO THANKS TO . . .
followed by the list of publishers who had rejected his
prized offering. Nice going Eddie. Thanks for
illustrating that nobody loses all the time.
Emily Dickinson
Only had seven poems published in her lifetime.
Richard Hooker
21 publishers rejected his humorous war novel,
M*A*S*H. He had worked on it for seven years.
James Joyce
22 publishers rejected 'The Dubliners'.
Dr. Seuss
27 publishers rejected his first book 'To Think That I
Saw It on Mulberry Street'.
Jack London
Received six hundred rejection slips before he sold his
first story.
John Creasey
The English crime novelist got 753 rejection slips
before he published 564 books.
William Saroyan
Accumulated more than a thousand rejections before
he had his first literary piece published.
John Milton
Wrote Paradise Lost 16 years after losing his eyesight.
Gertrude Stein
Submitted poems to editors for nearly 20 years before
one was finally accepted.
Louis Pasteur
Was only a mediocre pupil in undergraduate studies
and ranked 15th out of 22 students in chemistry.
Henry Ford
Failed and went broke five times before he succeeded.
F. W. Woolworth
was not allowed to wait on customers when he worked
in a dry goods store because, his boss said, "he didn't
have enough sense."
R. H. Macy
Failed seven times before his store in New York City
caught on.
Bell Telephone
When struggling to get started, its owners offered all
their rights to Western Union for $100,000. The offer
was disdainfully rejected with the pronouncement,
"What use could this company make of an electrical
toy."
Robert Goddard
Found his ideas bitterly rejected by his scientific peers
on the grounds that rocket propulsion would not work
in the rarefied atmosphere of outer space.

Charlie Chaplin came 3rd in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest.

John Major before he became UK Prime Minister applied for a bus conductor job, his application was rejected.

Tony Blair UK one time Prime Minister . His teacher told him that he could only be a hairdresser.

Richard Branson CEO Virgin has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student, and on his last day at school, his headmaster, Robert Drayson, told him he would either end up in prison or become a millionaire.

Davido was told by his teacher he cant make out there