16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

I wrote and submit this articles to Ezinearticles 4 years ago and has constantly receive significant amount of views. This is a really good piece of article so I decided to share it with my fellow warriors.

To succeed in business or life. I come to realize that we must continually take remedial actions. Putting myself on the line day after day can be extremely draining, especially when things do not work out as I desired. Hence, each time I face a disappointing event or undesirable outcome, I NEVER FORGET these famous failures:

1. Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft, has literally changed the work culture of the world in the 21st century, by simplifying the way computer is being used. He happens to be the world's richest man for the last one decade. However, in the 70's before starting out, he was a Harvard University dropout. The most ironic part is that, he started a software company (that was soon to become Microsoft) by purchasing the software technology from "someone" for only $US50 back then.

2. Abraham Lincoln, received no more than 5 years of formal education throughout his lifetime. When he grew up, he joined politics and had 12 major failures before he was elected the 16th President of the United States of America.

3. Isaac Newton was the greatest English mathematician of his generation. His work on optics and gravitation made him one of the greatest scientists the world has even known. Many thought that Isaac was born a genius, but he wasn't! When he was young, he did very poorly in grade school, so poor that his teachers became clueless in improving his grades.

4. Ludwig van Beethoven, a German composer of classical music, is widely regarded as one of history's supreme composers. His reputation has inspired - and in many cases intimidated - composers, musicians, and audiences who were to come after him. Before the start of his career, Beethoven's music teacher once said of him "as a composer, he is hopeless". And during his career, he lost his hearing yet he managed to produce great music - a deaf man composing music, ironic isn't!

5. Thomas Edison who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century. Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 U.S patents to his name. When he was a boy his teacher told him he was too stupid to learn anything. When he set out on his own, he tried more than 9,000 experiments before he created the first successful light bulb.

6. The Woolworth Company was a retail company that was one of the original five-and-ten-cent stores. The first Woolworth's store was founded in 1878 by Frank Winfield Woolworth and soon grew to become one of the largest retail chains in the world in the 20th century. Before starting his own business, Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employer would not let him serve any customer because he concluded that Frank "didn't have enough common sense to serve the customers".

7. By acclamation, Michael Jordon is the greatest basketball player of all time. A phenomenal athlete with a unique combination of grace, speed, power, artistry, improvisational ability and an unquenchable competitive desire. Jordan single-handedly redefined the NBA superstar. Before joining NBA, Jordan was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that was cut from high school basketball team because of his "lack of skill".

8. Walter Disney was American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator. One of the most well-known motion picture producers in the world, Disney founded a production company. The corporation, now known as The Walt Disney company, makes average revenue of US $30 billion annually. Disney started his own business from his home garage and his very first cartoon production went bankrupt. During his first press conference, a newspaper editor ridiculed Walt Disney because he had no good ideas in film production.

9. Winston Churchill failed the 6th grade. However, that never stopped him to work harder! He strived and eventually became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Churchill is generally regarded as one of the most important leaders in Britain and world history. In a poll conducted by the BBC in 2002 to identify the "100 Greatest Britons", participants voted Churchill as the most important of all.

10. Steven Spielberg is an American film director. He has won 3 Academy Awards an ranks among the most successful filmmakers in history. Most of all, Steven was recognized as the financially most successful motion picture director of all time. During his childhood, Spielberg dropped out of junior high school. He was persuaded to come back and was placed in a learning-disabled class. He only lasted a month and then dropped out of school forever.

11. Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist widely regarded as the most important scientist of the 20th century. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and "for his services to Theoretical Physics". However, when Einstein was young, his 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!"

12. In 1947, one year into her contract, Marilyn Monroe was dropped by 20th Century-Fox because her producer thought she was unattractive and cannot act. That didn't deter her at all! She kept on going and eventually she was recognized by the public as the 20th century's most famous movie star, sex symbol and pop icon.

13. John Grisham's first novel was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishing houses. He went on writing and writing until he became best known as a novelist and author for his works of modern legal drama. The media has coined him as one of the best novel authors even alive in the 21st century.

14. Henry Ford's first two automobile companies failed. That did not stop him from incorporating Ford Motor Company and being the first to apply assembly line manufacturing to the production of affordable automobiles in the world. He not only revolutionized industrial production in the United States and Europe, but also had such influence over the 20th century economy and society. His combination of mass production, high wages and low prices to consumers has initiated a management school known as "Fordism". He became one of the three most famous and richest men in the world during his time.

15. Soichiro Honda was turned down by Toyota Motor Corporation during a job interview as "engineer" after World War Two. He continued to be jobless until his neighbors starting buying his "home-made scooters". Subsequently, he set out on his own to start his own company. Honda. Today, the Company has grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer and one of the most profitable automakers - beating giant automaker such as GM and Chrysler. With a global network of 437 subsidiaries, Honda develops, manufactures, and markets a wide variety of products ranging from small general-purpose engines and scooters to specialty sports cars.

16. Akio Morita, founder of giant electric household products, Sony Corporation, first product was an electric rice cooker, only sold 100 cookers (because it burned rice rather than cooking). Today, Sony is generating US$66 billion in revenue and ranked as the world's 6th largest electronic and electrical company.

Add your own list if you have a fantastic stories about a successful person. I'm pretty sure the warrios will appreciate your contribution.

Send me a Thanks if you like it. Appreciated

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Abraham Lincoln and Soichiro Honda were the first to come to my mind when I saw the title of the thread. Glad to see they both made the cut. Great list, thanks for sharing. :)

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thank for sharing and a big thank for u

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

That was a nice read Kenneth. I guess failure is a great motivation for people who take lessons from it and do better the next time. I believe that's why those famous people achieved great success after failing. I really liked Einstein's and Honda's story. Telling what they cannot do or turning them down work great on some people.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

These are great reminders that failures are basically learning experiences to help us for eventual success. Many thanks for this post.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

They all demostrated that through persistence any obstacles can be smarshed for success attained.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks for the post.

My motto is that if I'm not failing regularly, then I'm not pushing hard enough!

I've just started reading about Abraham Lincoln, and the guy really is an inspiration. He had so many failures and setbacks in his life, but he kept moving on regardless. It would have been easy for him to quit and say I've had enough of this, but he didn't, and in the end he achieved his goal.

Its a bit like baseball really (a sport I've just recently started watching). Sometimes you get a base hit. Sometimes its a home run. Most of the time its a strike out. The key is to keep swinging the bat!

Paul.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

The Abraham Lincoln one was a surprise to me. I knew about the little formal education; but what were the 12 major failures?

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

:( Accidentally double posted.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

He had a business that failed (more than 1?)

Rejected for law school

Went bankrupt

Spent 17 years in debt

Lost his job

Ran for state legislature and lost

Ran for congress and lost (twice)

Ran for senate and lost

and there were quite a few more.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

This is what i found on the web

• 1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.
• 1818 His mother died.
• 1831 Failed in business.
• 1832 Ran for state legislature – lost.
• 1832 Also lost his job – wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.
• 1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.
• 1834 Ran for state legislature again – won.
• 1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.
• 1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.
• 1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature – defeated.
• 1840 Sought to become elector – defeated.
• 1843 Ran for Congress – lost.
• 1846 Ran for Congress again – this time he won – went to Washington and did a good job.
• 1848 Ran for re-election to Congress – lost.
• 1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state – rejected.
• 1854 Ran for Senate of the United States – lost.
• 1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention – got less than 100 votes.
• 1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again – again he lost.
• 1860 Elected president of the United States.

Lincoln could have given up several times in his lifetime..but he didn’t.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Einstein's story is amazing--he couldn't even get a job in physics so he had to work as a patent clerk. He told his family he was a failure.

But his job at the patent office gave him a lot of extra time for the 'thought experiments' that lead to his major theories.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Nice.
Good thing you did not include the Online Gurus because it will fill up this whole page. They battle scars and battle stories that will make any IM cry :p
Just wondering why is Steve Jobs not there?
Nikola Tesla should be there but unfortunately overshadowed by Edison?

Jing Quimpo
-chinese proverb-
“You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from passing over your head, but you can prevent their making a nest in your hair”

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

As they say, if there exists no possibility of failure, then victory is meaningless.

A very useful and inspiring post Kenneth. Great thanks!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Where there's a will, there' always a way.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

There's an abundance of people like this, that's why many success coaches like Bob Proctor and Anthony Robbins really connect with their audience in regards to personal history, because they came from a place of massive failure where they had next to nothing, then rose up to become resounding successes.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

I'm glad you like it :)

Very true, always know what you want.

You're welcome PepperVA, good luck on your success!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks for great post, those people really give inspirations to the world. I think to gain success, we must focus and persistence, even we must struggle and face some bad days.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Very inspiring, I love reading this, very nice thread, like other I still wonder why don't include Abraham Lincoln.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Great post. Enjoy reading this. Where there's a will, there's always a way. :D

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks Ken for the list. I love reading stories like this!

To add to the list...Donald Trump

<< From Wikipedia.com >>

Donald Trump (billionaire, business tycoon, television personality and author) In 2011, Trump ranked No. 17 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.

Early Failure (1989–1997)

By 1989, the effects of the recession left Trump unable to meet loan payments. Trump financed the construction of his third casino, the $1 billion Taj Mahal.... by 1991 increasing debt brought Trump to business bankruptcy and the brink of personal bankruptcy.

Banks and bond holders had lost hundreds of millions of dollars, but opted to restructure his debt to avoid the risk of losing more money in court.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

So really, the biggest winners are the biggest losers :D;

OR

The biggest winners are those who are not afraid to lose.

Great post, I love reading inspiring success stories!

Aubrey

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

First to come to my mind was of course Einstein, guess he was the "most popular failure", at least in my circles.. It nice to read stories like these.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thankyou for this post. Very inspiring.

"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."

Mannequin

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Spielberg's story really touched me. He probably had AD/HD right? In those dark ages, people did not know about things like AD/HD and they were locking kids out of society. And they were putting new-moms in mental hospitals because of what we know as post-partum depression nowadays.

Thanks Kenneth, it was a nice read.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Never knew this about Lincoln. Thats a lot of failure before winning at something (the Presidency).

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks man. Very very motivational. Thanks again.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thomas Edison did 9000+ experiments before creating his first successful lightbulb?! Talk about perseverance! Thanks for sharing this inspiring post and showing us how if we all kept working hard towards our goals and never give up, we could also succeed and we don't have to be born geniuses to do it.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thank you for the great post! It takes the pain out of failure and replaces it with positive thoughts. Guess it really is true - out of the diseasters and the ashes grow the roses of success!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

indeed an inspiration...didnt know licoln has to go trhough alot of that...but as they say "try and try until you succeed"

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

So True!! When you believe in an idea, work hard and never give up... eventually good will come!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

This is a motivating post! Great idea... and to add to your inspiring people:

Colonel Sanders of KFC...
AFter his restaurant was closed by a new highway being built where it stood -at age 60 -- he retired... but then decided to franchise out his special fried chicken recipe...

so, at 65 years old, he traveled by car to restaurant owners -cooking up the chicken on the spot, and if the owner liked the chicken, they would sell the Colonel's fried chicken (the "franchise").
He was told "no" 1,009 times before he got his first "yes"! Talk about resilience!

By 1964, he had 600 franchises selling his trademark fried chicken.

Home Depot creators/owners -Bernie Marcus + Arthur Blank were fired from "Handy Dan"
--so, they opened their own home-improvement store with an entire store of discounts and grew in less than 10 years to an enormous success.


and I just read this:
"A Baltimore TV producer told Oprah that she was "unfit for television news"

Evening news reporter Oprah Winfrey couldn’t help but get emotionally invested in her stories. Theproducer of Baltimore’s WJZ-TV got fed up and pulled her off the air. As a consolation, he offered her a role on a daytime TV show.
Winfrey was initially heartbroken. At the time, daytime TV was a huge step down from the evening news. Her sadness quickly faded as the show, People Are Talking, became a hit.That success help Oprah find her true calling as a talk show host."


Thanks so much for this great thread and topic!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

That was an awesome job you did giving us all that information good research and thought. I should add the story of Shaka Zulu who the only person that believed in him was his mother.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Awesome post! Everyone just keep after it.

I am bookmarking this page

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Very nice post.

I was just thinking about famous failures the other day. Thomas Edison is often quoted as restating the "failure" of his experiments as finding out "what doesn't work" which only drove him more. Your post also show many times other people's opinions about your talent, looks, skill, etc... are just that- their opinions and not fact.

Imagine if he gave up on trying to create the light bulb or any of those other famous "failures" gave up on their dreams. It would be quite a different world today.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Very inspiring post indeed. Happy to come along with posts like this, gives me more inspiration to focus on my goals and not to my failures. Thanks a lot for sharing.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Great stuff!

There's always such an interesting story behind people. The ups and downs that led to success or fame always comes with an intriguing set of circumstances.

This is a good compilation with a real variety of people from all walks of life.

Thanks for sharing.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

These 16 personalities are the well known of today age and they have complete authority in their specific fields and they are legends too. But question is this how they get this current status. Surely they have struggle hard for achieving their goal and never give up no matter what happen with them. So keep trying and consistency is the main things for getting success in any field.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks for the post !! Good information to make you not to give up !!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Great thread. Thanks for the information

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

I think failure is common amongst all the people who have made it big time. Once they have made it thats all we focus on, but behind the scenes and behind story is infact lots of failure. What sets these people apart is that they are the ones that stuck with it.

I forgot who it was but one famous entreprenuer once said each he saw each hurdle he came to as a test for how much he actually wanted to succeed!

Very funny to see what other people had written about them...just goes to show how wrong people can be.

Always remember the manager who turned down the "beatles" because he claimed they would never sell any music!!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Interesting thing about 6). Someone actually said that about him.

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Very inspiring! We all know that everyone is not perfect and failures makes us strong to do something that it will never happened again. I know everyone of us wants to become like them. Nothing is impossible as long as we have the goal, faith, strategy and luck! :)

I love reading inspiring story! I guess I'll make it a habit in order for me to work harder! :) Good luck to everyone!

I believe WF members has one goal! ;) cheers!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks, it helps me to remind myself that my next mistake will get me closer to my goal. So it helps me to accept them easier and flow

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

You stop learning when you stop failing....... It means you are not pushing your boundaries far enough..

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

Thanks for the inspirational stories, they are all so amazing, it gives me courage to never give up!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

It was a nice thread, I love it!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

This should be required reading for all teachers and parents. Great post!!!

Re: 16 Most Inspiring Famous Failures
 

That is a good post.