Never, never, never give up!

[SVCBeercats]

Don't let the bastards get you down.

In 1956, (Gene) Hackman began pursuing an acting career. He joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman. Already seen as outsiders by their classmates, Hackman and Hoffman were voted "The Least Likely To Succeed", and Hackman got the lowest score the Pasadena Playhouse had yet given. Determined to prove them wrong, Hackman moved to New York City. A 2004 article in Vanity Fair described Hackman, Hoffman and Robert Duvall as struggling California-born actors and close friends, sharing NYC apartments in various two-person combinations in the 1960s. To support himself between acting jobs, Hackman was working at a Howard Johnson restaurant when he encountered an instructor from the Pasadena Playhouse, who said that his job proved that Hackman "wouldn't amount to anything". A Marine officer who saw him as a doorman said "Hackman, you're a sorry son of a bitch". Rejection motivated Hackman.

So what motivates Tom Brady?

Walt Disney was fired from an early job at the Kansas City Star Newspaper because he was not creative enough! His first two businesses failed.

Oprah Winfrey was publicly fired from her first television job as an anchor in Baltimore for getting "too emotionally invested in her stories."

Steven Spielberg was rejected by the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts multiple times.

R.H. Macy had a series of failed retail ventures throughout his early career.

Colonel Harland David Sanders was fired from several jobs before founding a fried chicken empire.

Vera Wang failed to make the 1968 US Olympic figure-skating team. Then she became an editor at Vogue, but was passed over for the editor-in-chief position. Part of her made it to the Olympics as she designed costumes for skating champion Nancy Kerrigan.

Thomas Alva Edison was fired by Western Union.

When Sidney Poitier first auditioned for the American Negro Theatre, he flubbed his lines and spoke in a heavy Caribbean accent, which made the director angrily tell him to stop wasting his time and go get a job as a dishwasher.

In one of Fred Astaire's first screen tests, an executive wrote: "Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."

J.K. Rowling was a single mom living off welfare when she began writing the first "Harry Potter" novel.

Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.

Henry Ford's first car company failed. He left his second company, the first a name Ford, which became the Cadillac Car Company.

Talk about persistence! While developing his vacuum, Sir James Dyson went through 5,126 failed prototypes and his savings over 15 years.

Saul Bellow's college English professor, the famed Norman Maclean, said he showed no signs of literary greatness and ultimately dismissed him as "a dud."

Ang Lee failed Taiwan's college entrance exams — twice. Then he tried to go to acting school, but his English wasn't good enough.

Then there are those did not become famous until after the age of 30:
Colonel Sanders 62
Alan Rickman 42
Stan Lee 39
Bob Ross 41
Samuel L. Jackson 46
Morgan Freeman 50
Steve Carell 43
Christoph Waltz 53
Harrison Ford 35
J.K. Rowling 32
Susan Boyle 47
Bryan Cranston 44
Danny Trejo 41
Viola Davis 43
Julia Child 50
Billy Bob Thornton 41
Oprah Winfrey, 32
Jonathan Daniel Hamm 37
Sylvester Stallone 30
James Gandolfini 38
Kathryn Joosten 60
Jane Lynch 49
Toni Morrison 39
Ray Kroc,52
Kerry Washington 35
Donald Fisher 41
etc., etc., etc.

 

[Zarathustra]

NICE, The list reminds me of the motivational book that
Caroline Ducharme read in high school after her ACL injury.
Something like: A negative experiences , when embraced
as an important learning experiences, can make you stronger.
Does anyone remember the name of the book ( which
was reported in one of Caroline's newspaper articles? )

 

[Biff]

When I hear "Never give up" I always think of this race...

 

[Monte]

Let's hear some stories about people who battled medical problems. I know there are some good ones out there.

 

[Huskee11]

I think they were right about Hackman.

He is good at acting grumpy, that`s about it.

 

[Ace565]

I think of Billy Mills (Olympics) when I never want to give up. Who overcame two setbacks during his long distance race. And he was stated as running in borrowed shoes. A movie called Running Brave was made about him and is a very good watch. Recommended watching.

 

[bluedevil]

I think they were right about Hackman.

He is good at acting grumpy, that`s about it.

Are you saying Hackman was a hack?

 

[JellyBean]

Wow. Great stuff, especially the part about Gene Hackman. One of my favorite actors. Always loved The French Connection movie as a kid and that name....Popeye Doyle

 

[Monte]

Wow. Great stuff, especially the part about Gene Hackman. One of my favorite actors. Always loved The French Connection movie as a kid and that name....Popeye Doyle

"Hoosiers" was pretty good too!

 

[HuskyNan]

 

[f1f1ferrari]

 

[ed4ourgirls]

I think they were right about Hackman.

He is good at acting grumpy, that`s about it.

Check him out in "I never sang for my father".

Melvyn Douglas also very good (as usual)

 

[fireford]

She's fallen but CAN get up....and still win.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Let's hear some stories about people who battled medical problems. I know there are some good ones out there.

• Stephen Hawking - ALS at age 21 - theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and eminent scientist
• John Nash - acute paranoid schizophrenia - Nobel Prize in Economics
• Michael J Fox - diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29 – told to stop acting; he did not; his Parkinson's foundation raised over $230M
• Nick Vujicic – born without arms and legs; motivational talks around the world, has written several books and is a regular on talk shows and TV programs. He became very famous when starring in the touching short film "The Butterfly Circus"; Nick has also founded an international non-profit organization and ministry, Life Without Limbs
• Frida Kahlo – polio - Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico
• Alex Zanardi – F1 driver who suffered an accident in 2001 in which both legs were amputated - Three years later he was on the track again driving a BMW for which he himself had adapted some prostheses. He won four World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) victories. However, in 2007 he decided to focus his sporting efforts on adapted cycling. The tricycle he rides has also been designed by himself and, to date, he has won three Paralympic golds
• Andrea Boccelli - congenital glaucoma at 5 months old, and became completely blind at age 12 - Italian opera singer, songwriter, tenor and record producer; sold more than 75 million records
• Ralph Braun - diagnosed with muscular dystrophy - Founder of the Braun Corporation which is the leading company that manufactures accessible vehicles and wheelchairs in the world as well electrical equipment such as shavers and hair driers
• Stevie Wonder - retinopathy of prematurity resulting in blindness - singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Known as a prominent figure in popular music during the second half of the 20th century, he is one of the most successful songwriters and musicians
• Helen Keller - as an infant lost her senses of sight and hearing - American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer
• Tom Shakespeare - achondroplasia dwarfism - English sociologist and bioethicist
• Christy Brown - cerebral palsy and was able to write or type only with the toes of one foot - writer and painter – his autobiography is titled “My Left Foot”
• Aaron Fotheringham – in childhood underwent several failed hip operations that forced him to use a wheelchair permanently - His speciality? Wheelchair skating; first 180° jump turn and first wheelchair somersault

 

[Bigboote]

One of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford: “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”

And from Mystic Pizza. Daisy: “I (messed) up.” Charlie: “Yeah, but you gave it 100% effort.”

 

[Bigboote]

• Stephen Hawking - ALS at age 21 - theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and eminent scientist
• John Nash - acute paranoid schizophrenia - Nobel Prize in Economics
• Michael J Fox - diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 29 – told to stop acting; he did not; his Parkinson's foundation raised over $230M
• Nick Vujicic – born without arms and legs; motivational talks around the world, has written several books and is a regular on talk shows and TV programs. He became very famous when starring in the touching short film "The Butterfly Circus"; Nick has also founded an international non-profit organization and ministry, Life Without Limbs
• Frida Kahlo – polio - Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico
• Alex Zanardi – F1 driver who suffered an accident in 2001 in which both legs were amputated - Three years later he was on the track again driving a BMW for which he himself had adapted some prostheses. He won four World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) victories. However, in 2007 he decided to focus his sporting efforts on adapted cycling. The tricycle he rides has also been designed by himself and, to date, he has won three Paralympic golds
• Andrea Boccelli - congenital glaucoma at 5 months old, and became completely blind at age 12 - Italian opera singer, songwriter, tenor and record producer; sold more than 75 million records
• Ralph Braun - diagnosed with muscular dystrophy - Founder of the Braun Corporation which is the leading company that manufactures accessible vehicles and wheelchairs in the world as well electrical equipment such as shavers and hair driers
• Stevie Wonder - retinopathy of prematurity resulting in blindness - singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Known as a prominent figure in popular music during the second half of the 20th century, he is one of the most successful songwriters and musicians
• Helen Keller - as an infant lost her senses of sight and hearing - American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer
• Tom Shakespeare - achondroplasia dwarfism - English sociologist and bioethicist
• Christy Brown - cerebral palsy and was able to write or type only with the toes of one foot - writer and painter – his autobiography is titled “My Left Foot”
• Aaron Fotheringham – in childhood underwent several failed hip operations that forced him to use a wheelchair permanently - His speciality? Wheelchair skating; first 180° jump turn and first wheelchair somersault

Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI and went on to become a well-known concert pianist. There have been several other one-handed pianists since, playing a repertoire arranged by and written for Wittgenstein.

 

[SVCBeercats]

Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI and went on to become a well-known concert pianist. There have been several other one-handed pianists since, playing a repertoire arranged by and written for Wittgenstein.

Thanks for the memories! As soon as I read "Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI," I remembered this:

 

[Tonyc]

You've read some of my posts and I live by never giving up. A couple of my phases.

There are two types of people in the world, those who think they can and those who think they cant and they're both right.
Winners never quit and quitters never win
If you don't stop trying you haven't lost, you've just learned one more way of how not to do it
Babe Ruth struck out over 2,000 times but fans only remember his 714 home runs.

 

[Bigboote]

You've read some of my posts and I live by never giving up. A couple of my phases.

There are two types of people in the world, those who think they can and those who think they cant and they're both right.
. . .

There are several along those same lines from John Wooden. One that I've always liked is (from memory), "Trying hard doesn't guarantee success, but not trying hard guarantees failure."

And one of my all-time favorite quotes, from Einstein: "There are only two ways to look at the world: One, as though nothing is a miracle, the other as though everything is a miracle."

 

[Littlemin]

Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm in WWI and went on to become a well-known concert pianist. There have been several other one-handed pianists since, playing a repertoire arranged by and written for Wittgenstein.

Eric Idle talks about him in the “Meaning of Monty Python” show available on Netflix. It is a discussion between Idle (3 a.m. for him in LA via a TV type hookup) and Cleese, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam in England.
Anyway, Idle mentions him after a mention of Wittgenstein’s brother, a philosopher who went to school with Hitler. Idle specifically shares that Ravel wrote a piece for the one armed pianist.

 

[Littlemin]

There are several along those same lines from John Wooden. One that I've always liked is (from memory), "Trying hard doesn't guarantee success, but not trying hard guarantees failure."

And one of my all-time favorite quotes, from Einstein: "There are only two ways to look at the world: One, as though nothing is a miracle, the other as though everything is a miracle."

Edison’s quote about his many failures prior to his success - “ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

 

[baggerbob]

You've read some of my posts and I live by never giving up. A couple of my phases.

There are two types of people in the world, those who think they can and those who think they cant and they're both right.
Winners never quit and quitters never win
If you don't stop trying you haven't lost, you've just learned one more way of how not to do it
Babe Ruth struck out over 2,000 times but fans only remember his 714 home runs.

And they don't remember the year he hit 60 home runs the batter behind him hit 47 and led the league in rbi's with 175.

 

[RSHERMVIKES]

I carry 4 quotes in my wallet.

1. MAN IN THE MIRROR poem

The Man in the Mirror​

by Dale Wimbrow​

When you get all you want and you struggle for self,
and the world makes you king for a day,
then go to the mirror and look at yourself
and see what that man has to say.
For it isn't your mother, your father or wife
whose judgment upon you must pass,
but the man, whose verdict counts most in your life
is the one staring back from the glass.
He's the fellow to please,
never mind all the rest.
For he's with you right to the end,
and you've passed your most difficult test
if the man in the glass is your friend.
You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
You can fool the whole world,
down the highway of years,
and take pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
if you've cheated the man in the glass.



2. Fred Astaire was asked how he made everything look easy? He replied. "I work damn hard to make it look easy!"

3. Joe DiMaggio once said, "Someone is seeing Joe DiMaggio play Baseball for the first time, and I don't want them to leave with a bad first impression!"

4. Derek Jeter was running in the outfield with Don Mattingly at the end of a spring training practice in 1995 and when they finished their workout Mattingly sprinted in toward the clubhouse. Jeter sprinted to catch up. When they got to the clubhouse Mattingly turned to Jeter and said, "Don't let anyone ever catch you not hustling on a ball field!"

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Gene Hackman terrific role in Mississippi Burning. Pretty good barber too.

 

[JimGunther]

There are very few successful people who haven't been "in-the-fire:: That's how they temper steel.