The moment has come. We’ve prepared for something, put effort into it, and given it our best shot — and it hasn’t gone as we hoped. Maybe that audition didn’t end with a callback, or our proposal for a new project was rebuffed. At times like this, it’s easy to feel discouraged and retreat to lick our wounds. Grieving something we'd hoped for is important, but so is being able to move forward afterward.
Many well-known artists, thinkers, and leaders faced obstacles and rejections before finding their way. From Apple co-founder Steve Jobs getting fired from his own company in 1985 to YA author Lois Duncan having an old manuscript accepted by the very publishers who rejected it years before, there are countless examples of how rejection can actually spur us toward the opportunities that are meant for us.
So let’s give ourselves time to breathe, and then dust ourselves off and read these quotes to get going again.
Hearing “no” doesn’t mean “never.” The only things you can do are to constantly pursue growth … and make sure you’re prepared to walk in the room.Antoinette Robertson
Trying in the wake of rejection is a kind of faith … A tribute to anyone who’s ever chased anything.Aja Gabel
When you get rejected … you have not failed. You have actually passed another milestone.N.K. Jemisin
“Rejection is protection,” is what I like to say. You have to get so good at getting rejected … You are different from every single person. You have your own journey on this planet.Lola Kirke
If you aren’t getting rejected on a daily basis, your goals aren’t ambitious enough.Chris Dixon
I am good at walking away. Rejection teaches you how to reject.Jeanette Winterson
There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.Brené Brown
A kick in the pants can be the best thing in the world for you.Walt Disney
You can vanquish the demons only when you yourself are convinced of your own worth.Adeline Yen Mah
The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.Ernest Hemingway
if you show / someone the sun in your bones / and they reject you / you must remember. / they hurt themselves this very same way.Nayyirah Waheed
Featured image credit: solidcolours/ iStock
