Rejection goes hand in hand with acceptance even in the natural or most controlled processes. An apple tree, for example, bears many fruits, and whereas most of them conform to an average size, weight, shape, color, flavor, and texture, a few of them are invariably out of the acceptable limits or simply are rejects. Rejection is a point in time observation and a rejection observed at one point is not necessarily going to always be a rejection. Many rejection stories have, over a period of time, converted into great success stories. Rejections are however like watercolor paintings, which unlike oil paintings are not possible to be redone. A rejection, once recorded in an individual’s history, is not erasable, no matter how many successes are later on earned by that person.

1. J.K. Rowling

Joanne Rowling, better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, was born to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling on July 31, 1965 in Yate, South Gloucestershire, England. She is best known for her fantasy novel series Harry Potter, which won her worldwide fame and earned her numerous awards. More than 400 million copies of the novel were sold all over the world. The Sunday Times Rich List ranked her as the twelfth richest woman in U.K. in 2008 with a net worth of £560 million. It is interesting to note that, having finished the manuscript on an old typewriter, she submitted it to twelve publishers and all of them simply rejected it. It was after the lapse of a year that a small publishing house called Bloomsbury agreed to publish it and advanced her £1500 to start with. Bloomsbury’s decision was in fact influenced by Alice Newton, an eight-year-old daughter of the Bloomsbury’s chairman. She was given the first chapter of the book for review and having finished it, she immediately demanded the next one. The editor of Bloomsbury said that he advised Rowling to find a full time job, because there were little if any chances for her success with the Harry Potter-like stories for children.

2. The Beatles

The Beatles was an English rock band, formed in 1960 in Liverpool, England. It comprised of John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. The band came into prominence in 1962, after the performance of Love Me Do. The band topped the Billboard magazine’s list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists. The band has won an Academy Award, seven Grammy Awards, and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The band is considered an all time bestseller. Decca Studios, located in West Hampstead, North London, England, is infamous for rejecting the Beatles during an audition. It is considered the biggest mistake on part of Decca Studios in the history of music. The band members Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon, and Pete Best were auditioned by the Decca producer Tony Meehan. He rejected all of them, saying ‘guitar groups are on the way out’ and “The Beatles have no future in show business’.

3. Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Einstein on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire and died on April 18, 1955 at the age of 76 years in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. He is best known for his general theory of relativity. E = mc2, representing this theory, is the most famous but the least understood equation among the masses. This theory ultimately paved the way for the atomic age. It is however noteworthy that Zurich Polytechnic School refused to take him into the school as he did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven. His parents as well as his teachers considered him mentally slow and unsocial.

4. Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin was born to Robert Darwin and Susannah Darwin on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England and he died there on April 19, 1882 at the age of seventy three years. He is best known for his theory of evolution, as described in his book On the Origin of Species. The great talent was rejected in his early childhood and the future genius was regarded as just mediocre; in Darwin’s own words, ‘I was considered by all my masters and my father, a very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard of intellect.”

5. Elvis Aaron Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley, commonly known by his single name Elvis, was born to Vernon Elvis and Glady Love Presley on January 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S. and died on August 16, 1977 at the age of 42 years in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. He was an American actor and singer, regarded as cultural icon and one of the most famous musicians of the twentieth century. He was considered the King of Rock and Roll. While working at Crown Electric Company as a truck driver, he was advised by his friend Ronnie Smith to contact Eddie Bond, the leader of Smith’s professional band, as there was a vacancy for a vocalist. After evaluating his performance, Bond rejected Presley, advising him to carry on with truck driving, saying ‘because you’re never going to make it as a singer’.

6. William Hung

William James Hung Hing Cheong, commonly known as William Hung, was born in Hong Kong on January 13, 1983. While he was a student of Civil Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, he appeared to audition in San Francisco for the third season of American Idol in September 2003. When he started singing to Ricky Martin’s She Bang, judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul tried to restrain their laughter under cover of paper on their faces while judge Simon Cowell bluntly rejected him, saying ‘You can’t sing, you can’t dance, so what do you want me to say?’.

7. William Golding

William Gerald Golding was born to Mildred and Alec Golding on September 19, 1911 in Newquay, Cornwall, England, and died on June 19, 1993 at the age of 81 years in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England. He was the Nobel Prize in Literature and is best known for his novel Lord of the Flies. He was also honored with the titles CBE and Knight Bachelor. Times magazine ranked him third on the list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. His classic novel, Lord of the Flies, which earned him fame, was initially rejected by twenty publishers. One of the rejection comments was ‘an absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull’.

8. Soichiro Honda

Soichiro Honda was born to Gihei and his wife Mika on November 17, 1906 in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan and died in Tokyo, Japan on August 5, 1991 at the age of 84 years. Honda founded and developed the Honda Company into a billion dollar multinational business. The company produces some of the world’s best motorcycles. He was rejected after an interview by the Toyota Company, when he tried to seek a job as an engineer. He was also not a success at receiving formal education.

9. Walt Disney

Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Hermosa, Chicago, Illinois, U.S. and died on December 15, 1966 in Burbank, California, U.S. He was an American film producer, animator, actor and an international icon. He was fired by an editor of a newspaper, who remarked that ‘he lacked imagination and had no good ideas’. In 1927 he tried to get MGM to distribute Mickey Mouse. His offer was rejected on the ground that idea was not feasible. A giant Mickey Mouse was considered frightening to women.

10. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey, better known as Oprah Winfrey, was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, U.S. She is one of the most successful media proprietors and philanthropists. She is best known for her famous, award winning show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is one of the richest African”œAmericans of the twentieth century and one of the most influential women in the world. Winfrey was fired from her job as a television reporter because she was stated to be ‘unfit for TV.’ She was also terminated from her position as co-anchor of the 6 o’clock weekday news of Baltimore WJZ-TV after the program was rated low.Winfrey reflected upon it that it was her first and worst failure at TV.

Conclusion:

A diamond, to be flawless, has to be colorless, but to be unique, it needs some inbuilt flaw, which imparts some coloration and a unique identity to a precious stone. Rejection or failure is something everyone has to face, at one or the other stage of life. What matters is not to be discouraged, keeping in mind that the lowest point on a revolving wheel is destined to rise. It is ironic that many times in history persons of great intellect have been rejected by mediocre judges only on account of their being in office.