EVER TRIED. EVER FAILED. NO MATTER. TRY AGAIN. FAIL AGAIN. FAIL BETTER
- Samuel Beckett
As a young man, Abraham Lincoln went to war a captain and returned a private. Afterwards, he was a
failure as a businessman. As a lawyer in Springfield, he was too impractical
and temperamental to be a success. He turned to politics and was defeated in
his first try for the legislature, again defeated in his first attempt to be
nominated for congress, defeated in his application to be commissioner of the
General Land Office, defeated in the senatorial election of 1854, defeated in
his efforts for the vice-presidency in 1856, and defeated in the senatorial
election of 1858. At about that time, he wrote in a letter to a friend, "I
am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed
to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth."
Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He was subsequently defeated in every election
for public office until he became Prime Minister at the age of 62. He later
wrote, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in
nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions
of honor and good sense. Never, Never, Never, Never give up." (his capitals, mind you)
Socrates was called "an immoral corrupter of youth" and continued
to corrupt even after a sentence of death was imposed on him. He drank the
hemlock and died corrupting.
Sigmund Freud was booed from the podium when he first presented his ideas to the
scientific community of Europe. He returned to his office and kept on writing.
Robert Sternberg received a C in his first college introductory-psychology class. His
teacher commented that "there was a famous Sternberg in psychology and it
was obvious there would not be another." Three years later Sternberg
graduated with honors from Stanford University with exceptional distinction in
psychology, summa cum laude, and Phi Beta Kappa. In 2002, he became President
of the American Psychological Association.
Charles Darwin gave up a medical career and was told by his father, "You care
for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat catching." In his autobiography,
Darwin wrote, "I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very
ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect." Clearly, he
evolved.
Thomas Edison's teachers said he was "too stupid to learn anything." He
was fired from his first two jobs for being "non-productive." As an
inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.
When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison
replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with
1,000 steps."
*iman nur aima*
