From failure to success: Famous people who finally made it big

Henry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

Here are 3 famous people who failed and would have been resigned to the litter bin of history, but they began again, and no one could have predicted their eventual success.

Walt Disney Famous for his work animating children’s classics such as Snow White, creating and voicing Mickey Mouse and envisioning Disney World, Disney was once fired for not having enough creativity. When working for the newspaper, Kansas City Star, Disney was terminated by his editor because he, “lacked imagination and had no good ideas.”

Disney did not let that deter him. He is quoted as saying, “Everyone falls down. Getting up is how you learn to walk.” He took his own advice, got up and became the success we know him as today.

Oprah Winfrey After overcoming a difficult childhood, Oprah, with help from her father, excelled in school and attended Tennessee State University on a full scholarship. After a stint in radio, she landed a job on a local television news station. She was fired by her producer for being, “unfit for television.”

She persevered, found a job at another television station where her viewership exploded and launched her new show AM Chicago into the top slot. It was quickly rebranded as The Oprah Winfrey Show and ran from 1986 to 2011. According to emmytvlegends.org, it “remains the highest-rated talk show in American television history.”

Oprah’s views on failure are that it is just another step. She said, “Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.”

Stephen King Writers may be used to rejection, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. Many give up on their dreams in the face of constant failure and King was no exception. His first novel, Carrie, was rejected 30 times and King felt its sting.

He dumped the novel in the trash, but his wife coerced him to try again. Because of his perseverance (with a little encouragement from his spouse), Carrie was published. It sold over 1 million copies in its first year as a paperback and was the basis for the 1976 film of the same title starring Sissy Spacek. King went on to publish 55 novels and nearly 200 short stories, many of which have been turned into films.

He once famously said, “Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure.”