‘It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all”in which case, you fail by default.’– J.K Rowling.

Ever imagined what’s common between the renowned British novelist, J.K. Rowling, celebrity and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey and the tech wizard- Bill Gates? Failure! All these super-stars and illustrious personalities have well treaded this zenith of success with failure. They’ve been humiliated by being termed as ‘unfit’ for their job, fired a countless times, failed in their endeavors’¦. but never gave up! Their passionate urge for success and undeterred will power to make it big never made them give up on their aspirations. Ask their innermost secret for success, and they’d blatantly reveal- failure. Failure is the biggest trigger for success. Those who’ve never failed will never know what it is to satiate one’s hunger for success!

Here are our ten most aspiring super-stars of today, who’ve had their own share of failures and breakdowns’¦ nevertheless made it big in their respective fields.

1. Socrates

One of the most eminent philosophers that our history has ever witnessed was persecuted as the ‘immoral corrupter of youth’ in the early 400 BC. This Greek philosopher, with his emancipating philosophies was considered blasphemous by the so-called up-holder of morality and law in the ancient Greek. His theories and write-ups were termed as Socratic Problem which were refuted and disregarded by his contemporary philosophers. Nevertheless, he kept writing and earned world-renowned disciples like Plato, Aristippus and Xenophon.

2. Albert Einstein

Einstein, the name that reverberates genius in our mind, was nearly tagged as ‘mentally challenged’ and ‘dull’ by his teachers, peers and family members when he was a kid. This scientist and wizard who literally changed the face of Physics, was in his early years expelled from school for being too dumb and displaying elements of anti-socialism. Who’d known that this man who bore rejection for admittance to various schools was an obscure genius, who would father numerous scientific theories for the world to understand!

3. Bill Gates

The Chairman and co-founder of Microsoft and undoubtedly the richest and the most powerful man of the world, Bill Gates was fired from his first job of a technician with a local software firm. The man who spearheaded the concept of emails and virtual content, is himself a Harvard drop-out. His business venture, Traf-O-Data, an endeavor to read traffic counters on the roadway, failed miserably, leaving the man hapless to succumb to his deplorable situation. Surprisingly, this wizard and the mastermind behind zillions of computer software, doesn’t own a baggage of certificates and qualifications to his credit. Rather, he is a simple guy, with a strong will to tread success.

4. J.K. Rowling

This quintessential writer who has today become a household name with his iconic best-selling series our history has ever witnessed, Harry Potter, was rejected, deserted and humiliated by many publishing houses for her novice concept of children’s books. Her advanced approach towards spearheading a series of novels for the children was rubbished as ‘unconvincing’ and mocked at by the then publishers, who were in a bid to release the typical formula based romantic novels. However, her persistent efforts finally brought her to the limelight with her first sequel Harry Potter and the Philiosopher’s Stone, 1997. Since then, there was no looking back.

5. Henry Ford

The ace American industrialist and the esteemed founder of Ford Motor, Henry is known world-over for reaching the luxury of a car to the middle-class Americans. He has clearly revolutionized the term vehicle, from a luxurious entity to a conveyance of practical utility. His company Ford Motor, that stands erect with pride as one of the world’s most successful business ventures, met innumerable failures en path to success. Right from losing his stockholders to failed projects, the company was pushed on to the verge of closure. But, as they say, when the going gets tough, tough gets the going, Ford gradually made its mark in the industry and rose to the height of enviable success!

6. Walt Disney

The pioneer of the Walt Disney Productions, the man is today one of the most influential personalities of the world, with his company making an annual revenue of around US $ 45 billion. He spurred the revolution of animated movies and cartoons for kids with his company. However, this cartoonist, director, animator and most importantly a business mogul was tagged ‘unskilled’ and ‘dry’ by his earliest recruiter at Kanas City Star Newspaper. His venture by the name Laugh-O-Gram failed to create any impact and thus went broke. His failure however didn’t shatter him and he moved to Hollywood to create history!

7. Oprah Winfrey

Who knew that this lean, petite dark girl, born to poverty, in a clandestine village of Mississippi, could become the richest Africo-American woman of the 20th century and be revered as the ‘Queen of All Media’ world-over. Oprah lived and witnessed some of the darkest days of a woman’s life. Raped, got pregnant, bore the death of her son’¦. and yet stood strong and undeterred to conquer the world. Today, she is the host to the international award winning show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. The show is rated as the highest TRP grabber and one-of-its kind show that history has ever witnessed.

8. Steve Jobs

The man behind the unbeatable success of Apple Inc. was fired in his first job with the company. He kept returning to join the company for several profiles, until he finally became the CEO of this gigantic and multi-million dollar company. The company, under the leadership of Steve, has carved a niche as one of the most successful endeavors towards reaching technology to the global audience.

9. H.J. Heinz

The co-founder of Heinz, an iconic food manufacturing company, associated with more than thousand of food products sold all over the world, H.J. Heinz began his career by producing and marketing horseradish. The company, Heinz Noble and Company went broke during its foundational years. However, thankfully, with his expertise and unflinching courage, he grew the company in terms of potential and products to become the world’s largest food manufacturing company.

10. Richard Branson

A high school drop-out at the age of sixteen and founder of the magazine called Student, which met with a disastrous failure, Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, is clearly an inspiring business magnet and a name to look up-to for the youth of the world. He exemplifies the metaphor that an idea can change one’s life¸ with his unusual mail-order business. In the 1980’s, this modest business became the multi-billion dollar venture by the name Virgin Megastores. His record stores by the name Virgin Record have conquered the music industry today.

These were some famous men with their historic failure that paved way for their success. We can only thank their exemplary courage and solid determination to fight their hindrances and create history for the world to follow.