25 amazingly successful people who started out as abject failures
In terms of quantity, more history books could be filled with stories of people to gave up, were told to quit and did, or never even tried in the first place than could be written of those who eventually succeeded. But then again, that wouldn’t make for very interesting history.
Here are 25 people – past and present – who failed, were discouraged, or otherwise had reason to throw in the towel, but didn’t. And because of their persistence and dedication, they eventually made it into the history books.
1 - Albert Einstein: The man who won the Nobel Prize and became the authority on physics was, as a child, thought to be stupid and was eventually kicked out of school.
2 - Zane Grey: After following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a dentist, Grey continued his first passion of storytelling. Despite multiple rejections of his books, he was eventually published and became a very well-known author.
3 - Charlie Chaplin: The iconic character almost never came to be as he was initially turned down by studio executives.
4 - Abraham Lincoln: Although the magnitude of his failures have been a big exaggerated over the years, Lincoln did have his share of roadblocks on his way to the Presidency.
5 - Frank Winfield Woolworth: Despite his first store failing within weeks, Woolworth began again and started a store which eventually became the retail giant F. W. Woolworth Company.
6 - Orville and Wilbur Wright: They certainly didn’t get flight right on their first try. After years of hard work making flying machines that didn’t work, they finally achieved 12 seconds of flight.
7 - Thomas Edison: The inventor famously had more than 1,000 failed attempts at developing a light bulb that worked. He also was fired several times growing up and didn’t do particularly well in school.
8 - Jerry Seinfeld: Seinfeld completely bombed his first night on stage as a stand-up comedian. He came back the next night and began his illustrious comedy career.
9 - Vincent Van Gogh: There are few more telling examples of posthumous success. While alive, he only sold one painting. However, his impact on the art world is immeasurable (and his paintings are worth millions).
10 - Akio Morita: The eventual founder of Sony, Morita’s first product was a rice cooker that completely failed at cooking rice and sold less than 100 units.
11 - Charles Schultz: The creator of the beloved Peanuts comic strip, Shultz was never able to get his cartoons published in high school and wasn’t selected for a job at Disney.
12 - Theodor Seuss Giesel: Dr. Seuss was rejected dozens of times before having his books finally published.
13 - The Beatles: After the soon-to-be-international-hit music group auditioned for Decca Records in 1962, they were rejected with the sentiment, “guitar groups are on the way out.” The Beatles, of course, went on to have a significant impact on the music industry and the world.
14 - Lucille Ball: The actress who won four Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award was, at one point, considered a failure as an actress and was told to find a different career.
15 - Michael Jordan: The greatest basketball player of all time – and perhaps the greatest athlete ever – was once cut from his high school basketball team.
16 - Steven Spielberg: The Oscar-winning director was rejected from USC’s film program three times. He went to a different school and subsequently dropped out, but eventually earned his B.A. in 2002.
17 - Emily Dickinson: The writer had only a handful of her poems published in her lifetime.
18 - Fred Astaire: After a screen test, Astaire received a note, allegedly saying: “Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances.” He went on to have an extremely successful career in Hollywood.
19 - Jack London: The author’s first book was rejected more than 600 times before being accepted. He went on to write White Fang and The Call of the Wild.
20 - J. K. Rowling: Before writing and publishing the Harry Potter books, Rowling was broke, divorced, and raising a child on her own. She is now one of the richest women in the world.
21 - Stephen King: The author famously threw away the Carrie manuscript (after being rejected 30 times) before his wife removed it from the trash and told him to try again.
22 - Bill Gates: The computer mogul dropped out of Harvard, and his first business (Traf-O-Data) failed. He’s now a household name.
23 - Elvis Presley: The King of Rock ‘N Roll was told many times he had no talent and would never succeed. In fact, he was told in no uncertain terms not to quit his day job following his first performance on the Grand Ole Opry.
24 - Igor Stravinsky: The composer was literally run out of town after debuting The Rite of Spring.
25 - Rowland Hussey Macy's: The founder of the famous Macy department store had several failed businesses before starting his dry goods store on Sixth Avenue and 14th in New York City.
Bottom line: History was made by countless individuals who overcame great odds and obstacles to achieve greatness in their chosen field of endeavor. I guess it matters little where you start out as long as you have a desire to succeed.
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