Successful people always served as inspiration for all of us but you will be inspired more once you discover that like any ordinary people they experienced rejections and failures before they became well-known on their fields of expertise.
A sting of rejection is bitter, but it’s a necessary step to triumph, knowing that some of the people we admired most, have been told that they aren’t good enough.
Here’s an evidence of actual rejection letter, an undeniable proof, that even the best were once rejected:
2. Madonna Rejected: “I do not feel that she is ready yet”
The Queen of Pop successfully sold more than 10 million copies with Sire Records during her debut album but before that, she was rejected.
1. U2: Rejected by RSO Signed by Island Records
RSO was unimpressed with U2 and rejected them, the band signed with Island Records and Went on to sell 150 million records, and win 22 Grammy Awards.
3. Sylvia Path: Partially Rejected by New Yorker
Sylvia Path was requested by the New Yorker to cut the entire first half of “Amnesiac” in which she torn apart and went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Proof that even famous writers started with humble beginning.
4. Jim Lee: Rejected by Marvel, Became Co-Publisher of DC Comics
Jim Lee was rejected by Marvel Comics and became one of the famous figures in the comic book industry. He was told to reapply “when he had learned to draw hands.”
Tim Burton: Walt Disney’s Rejected Writer:
Rejected by Disney, honed his skills and hired an animator, became famous for movies such as “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Famous Ape Man
Edgar became famous for “Tarzan of the Apes,” which spawned 25 sequels and countless reproductions, but his story was rejected by a magazine in 1912, luckily a wiser publication accepted his piece, launching a legacy that is now over a hundred year old.
Gertrude Stein: Ernest Hemingway Mentor
A London Publication, headed by Arthur C. Fifield once mock Gertrude Stein’s manuscript without reading it, but later on, the famous author became the mentor of novelist Ernest Hemingway.
Steig Larrson: The man behind the award-winning “Millennium” trilogy
Steig Larrson was rejected and someone told him he wasn’t good enough to be a journalist
Kurt Vonnegut: Author of “Cat’s Cradle,” and “Slaughterhouse-Five”
Rejected by The Atlantic Monthly in 1949 and noted that his three writing samples were deemed commendable, but “not compelling enough for final acceptance.”
Andy Warhol: Rejected by Museum of Art
In 1956, Warhol gave one of his pieces to the Museum of Modern Art – for free – but was quickly rejected.
BONUS: Here are other Famous Rejections in History:
Walt Disney – Fired from the Kansas City Star in 1919 because he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”JK Rowling – Rejected by dozens, including HarperCollins, when a small publisher in London took a chance on Harry Potter.Oprah Winfey – Fired as an evening news reporter of Baltimore’s WJZ-TV because she couldn’t separate her emotions from her stories.
Elvis Presley – He was told by a manager that he was better off driving trucks in Memphis (his previous job).
Steve Jobs – Fired from the company he started, Apple, but was desperately brought back in 1997 to save it.
The list of rejections never ends, no one has ever won without first experiencing many failures and rejections. Share this list and inspire others to never stop dreaming.
