Famous Failures

At the age of 14 I took a class called, “life skills”. In that class I had some of my most memorable experiences, including caring for my beautiful egg baby, a pretend marriage to my pimply classmate, and a wonderfully memorable lecture on famous failures. On that day I took away a lesson that has stayed with me for life. That lesson was that no matter what one does, one can never fail as long as one keeps on trying.

 To succeed in business, and life, we must continually take risks. Putting oneself on the line day after day can be extremely draining. The next time you face a disappointing situation, please remember these famous failures:

 Before becoming America's favorite housewife, Lucille Ball was known in many Hollywood circles as a failed actress and "B-Movie queen"

 · Abraham Lincoln had 12 major failures before he was elected president of the United States.

 · Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school.

 · Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer he is hopeless."

 · When Thomas Edison was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. He tried more than 2,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.

 · F.W. Woolworth got a job in a dry good store when he was 21, but his employer would not let him wait on customers because he "didn't have enough sense."

 · Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. · A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had no good ideas.

 · Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade.

 · Steven Spielberg dropped out of high school in his sophomore year. He was persuaded to come back and placed in a learning disabled class. He lasted a month and dropped out of school forever.

 · Einstein's parents thought he was mentally retarded. His grades in school were so poor that a teacher asked him to quit, saying, 'Einstein, you will never amount to anything.'"

 · Walt Disney’s first cartoon production company went bankrupt.

 · Viewing Fred Astaire’s 1928 screen test, a producer noted: “Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little.”

 · In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because Darryl Zanuck thought she was unattractive.

 · Barbra Streisand made her stage debut at nineteen in a show that closed after one performance.

 · John Grisham’s first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and a dozen publishing houses.

Quotes About Failure:

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."

"Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up."

"Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up."

"Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one has better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on one's ideas, to take a calculated risk - and to act."

"I do not believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process."

"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."

"Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure."

 About the Author:  Monique Danielle owns Portland Marketing Agency,  DivaDesignWorld.com, a full service firm that offers web development, graphic design, consulting, and a wide variety of creative services.  She is also the founder of divadirectories.com,a free online resource designed to promote the growth and development of female business owners throughout Oregon, Washington, and the Northwest.