The movie Star Wars was rejected by every movie studio in Hollywood before 20th Century Fox finally produced it. It went on to be one of the largest-grossing movies in film history.
E.T., Forrest Gump, Home Alone, Speed and Pulp Fiction were all rejected by major studios before they finally found a studio willing to produce them.
An executive at MGM penned this memo after a screening of The Wizard of Oz: “The rainbow song’s no good. Take it out.”
Another MGM executive sent this memo advising against investing in Gone With the Wind: “Forget it. No Civil War picture ever made a nickel.”
As a child, Sylvester Stallone was frequently beaten by his father and told he had no brains. He grew up a loner and emotionally anguished. He was in and out of various schools. An advisor at Drexel University told him that, based on aptitude testing, he should pursue a career as an elevator repair person.
In 1887, the Musical Courier wrote: “Brahms evidently lacks the breadth and power of invention eminently necessary for the production of a truly great symphonic work.”
In 1932, during a Minneapolis bank robbery, a man was murdered. A small-time thief by the name of Leonard Hankins was arrested, convicted of the crime and sentenced to prison. Later through the testimony of others, it became clear that Hankins was innocent. Jack Mckay, an Associated Press correspondent in St. Paul, worked on the case, trying to get him free, for 19 years. Mackay wrote about the case again and again, drawing attention to the injustice of Hankin’s imprisonment. He was Hankin’s only advocate. Finally, in 1951, Governor C. Elmore Anderson convened the state pardon board in a special session. They ordered Hankins freed from prison and agreed that he had never committed the crime. The power of persistence!
You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster
you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe,
but the more chance you have of getting somewhere.
-Charles F. Kettering
IBM founder Tom Watson, believing in a new product and its development, supported one of his vice presidents in promoting the product. It was quite a risky venture and ended up in a financial disaster to the tune of $10 million. The vice president came to him in shame and offered his resignation. Watson was reported to have said, “You must be kidding. We’ve just spent $10 million educating you.”
Excerpt from A 6th Bowl of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Reprinted by permission of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. For more information. on the Web visit: www.chickensoup.com or call: 1-800-2 ESTEEM |
