Tenacity - The Mark of a Triumphant Spirit

Tenacity:

• the ability to stand strong - to tough it out.
• to stand in obstinate persistence.
• to be immovable in commitment and purpose.

1. Albert Einstein did not speak until he was four years old and did not read until he was seven. His teacher described him as "mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in foolish dreams."
2. Thomas Edison's teachers said that he was "too stupid to learn anything."
3. Winston Churchill failed sixth grade. He did not become Prime Minister of England until he was 62.
4. An expert said of Vince Lombardi: "He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation."
5. Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.
6. Richard Hooker worked for seven years on his humorous war novel M*A*S*H, only to have it rejected by 21 publishers.
7. Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.
8. The teacher of Enrico Caruso, the famous opera singer, said that he had no voice at all and could not sing.
9. The Sculptor, Rodin, was described as the worst pupil in the school. His father called him an idiot, his uncle said he was uneducable, and he was denied admittance to art school three times.

- Source: Adapted from Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen in Chicken Soup for the Soul (Health Communications)