Famous Failures
Story★★★★• In 1905, the University of Bern turned down a Ph.D. dissertation as being irrelevant and fanciful. Its author was Albert Einstein. • The rhetoric teacher at Harrow School in England wrote this on sixteen-year-old Winston Churchill’s report card: “A conspicuous lack of success.” • Thomas Edison once spent $2,000,000 on an invention that proved to be a flop.
The point
Three modern examples of failure: Einstein's rejected PhD, Churchill's school report saying he lacked success, Edison's failed $2M invention—all eventually achieving greatness.
Audience
Adults
Tone
Encouraging · Inspiring
To tell aloud
under a minute · 60 words