FAMOUS, RICH PEOPLE REVEAL THEIR SECRETS

Quentin Tarantino: "Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward."

The famed writer/director/producer was a former Manhattan Beach video store clerk who lived in his car after he was fired.


Cher: "Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The worst thing is not to try."

Her career took a nosedive after she split from Sonny. Despite paralyzing fear she auditioned her way into an Off Broadway play, got great reviews and began a movie career.
Audiences howled with laughter as the credits for "Silkwood" came on, with Cher's name following Meryl Streep's. Five years later she won the Oscar for Best Actress in "Moonstruck". She was no longer a joke.


THOMAS EDISON: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time."

This great inventor discovered the light bulb on the 2,001st try. What if he'd stopped at 2,000 failures? We'd all still be in the dark!


Winston Churchill: "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm."

This renowned British Prime Minister suffered many defeats, none greater than being voted out of office after leading the Allies to victory in World War II.


Abigail "Dear Abby" Van Buren: "If you want a place in the sun, be prepared to put up with a few blisters."


Whoopie Goldberg: "Failure is success if we learn from it. People can change their lives by changing their attitudes."

This Oscar winner actress and comedian went from former welfare recipient and drug addict to making her daydreams a reality.


Clint Eastwood: "Being defeated is a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent."

A studio exec told him years ago, Get outta town, you'll never make it. Your Adam's apple is ugly, you're gawky and you can't act." Eastwood ledr the country, made some low budget spaghetti westerns for Sergio Leone and became an international phenomenon. He eventually went back to the same Hollywood studio and became its biggest superstar, making them billions of dollars. The studio exec hasn't been heard from in years.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper editor for lack of ideas. He also went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland.

Albert Einstein did not speak until he was 4 and didn't read until he was 7. (He was thinking!) His teacher described him as "mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams."

Henry Ford failed and went broke five times before he finally succeeded.

Rev. Robert Schuller, founder of the Crystal Cathedral, adivises us to "turn rejection into direction and to always remember: yard by yard, it's hard...but inch by inch, it's a cinch."


So if you've NEVER failed, you're going nowhere because you're playing it safe. "No guts, no glory." There are five reasons you can never be a failure:

1) Failure is a positive thing.

2) Failure provides you with a pause in which to reassess your motices, your abilities and your opportunities.

3) Failure is often the best way of drawing attention to your abilities.

4) Failure teaches you more than success ever can.

5) Failure is the best school for success.

WHATEVER YOUR DREAM, TAKE YOURSELF AND THE DREAM SERIOUSLY ENOUGH TO RISK FAILURE.

FAILURE IS A GOOD AND NECESSARY THING ON THE PATH TO SUCCESS.

Excerpted from "Cheat Sheets for Life: Secret Shortcuts Used By The Rich & Famous"
(c) 2005, Sistarrs International