Never Ever Give Up

Chester Carlson, the inventor of the Xerox machine in 1940, received a rejection letter that read as follows: “Who the hell wants to copy a document on plain paper???” Twenty other companies rejected the idea as “useless.” Today, Xerox has revenues each year of about $1 billion.

In 1853, Chef George Crum was cooking at a restaurant in a resort in Saratoga Springs, New York, when a patron returned an order of French fries. The patron complained that the potatoes were too thick. So, to rile up the patron, Crum sliced the potatoes paper-thin and sent the dish back out to the patron.

It was a hit—the invention of the potato chip! Everyone soon began ordering them. Crum started his own restaurant shortly thereafter, and the potato chip went down in history as one of the best-loved snacks ever.

In 1928, Walter Diemer was an accountant at the Fleer Chewing Gum Company in Pennsylvania. He was playing around with new recipes for gum when he invented a new type. The first year “bubble gum” was introduced, over $1.5 million worth sold in the U.S. alone.

Spencer Silver invented a low-tack adhesive while working at 3M in 1968. The company rejected it for use in products. But the real man with perseverance was a co-worker who found a use for the low-tack adhesive. Art Fry, also a 3M employee, needed to keep music sheets from falling off the music stand when he sang at his church on Sundays.

So he put some of Silver’s adhesive on the back of his song sheets. He soon realized the usefulness of this special product and created the 3M Post-It. At first, 3M rejected the idea as impractical, but they realized, after trials, that it was perfect for all offices. The rest is history.

Authors are almost always rejected when presenting a new book to a publisher. The book Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield, was rejected one hundred forty times. It finally was accepted and has sold over eighty million copies.

Stephen King’s Carrie was rejected thirty times.

John Grisham’s first book was rejected by sixteen agents and twelve publishers.

It has been noted that Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before succeeding beyond all expectations.”

    “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.

Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set

about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.”

—Saint Francis DeSales

C-2012  J. Carinci from the book: An All-Consuming Desire To Succeed