Turned Down Quotes

• After being Turned Down by numerous Publishers, he had decided to write for Posterity.

  George Ade

  Writing, Belief, Publishers

  Fables in Slang (1900) p. 158

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• You can prepare all you want, but if you never roll the dice you'll never be successful.

  Shia LaBeouf

  Successful, Yale, Want

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• I was turned down by every record label in L.A. Perseverance is three quarters of the game. Talent's only a quarter. Being able to withstand the word 'no' over and over can build you a pretty tough skin. I knew if I just kept at it, at the very least I'd get better at my craft.

  Sheryl Crow

  Perseverance, Games, Skins

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• My first novel was turned down by half a dozen publishers. And even after having published five or six books, I wasn't making enough money to live on, and was beginning to think I'd have to give up the dream of being a full-time writer.

  Ian Rankin

  Dream, Giving Up, Book

  "Ian Rankin, author - portrait of the artist". Interview with Laura Barnett, www.theguardian.com. December 11, 2012.

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• The writer's no different. When he's rejected, that paper is rejected, in a sense, a sizeable fragment of the writer is rejected as well. It's a piece of himself that's being turned down.

  Rod Serling

  Different, Pieces, Paper

  Source: www.rodserling.com

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• I've turned down twentysomething million dollars for movies.

  Vin Diesel

  Dollars, Million Dollars, Millions

  "Muscle And Flow". Interview with Andrew Goldman, www.elle.com. March 30, 2006.

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• I've turned down shows offering large amounts of money.

  Kevin Hart

  Offering, Shows, Amount

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• I would only take a role that I know I'm comfortable in and I can do. I've turned down plenty of things because I'd feel it's not me, and I wouldn't want to come on someone's project and flip that.

  J. B. Smoove

  Roles, Want, Flip

  Interview with Joel Keller, www.avclub.com. January 9, 2011.

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• When the New Yorker turned down work, they turned it down in such an elaborately gentlemanly way making apologies for their own shortsightedness. Undoubtedly it was their fault but somehow for some reason this fell short of the remarkably high standard that you by your own work have set for yourself. They had a way of rejecting my work that made me feel sorry for them somehow.

  Garrison Keillor

  Sorry, Apology, Way

  "Humor has to surprise us, otherwise it isn't funny". Interview with George Plimpton, blankonblank.org. November 28, 1994.

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• When I was forty, I was getting divorced, living in a low-class, dirty hotel in New York. My mother was dying of cancer. I owed $20,000. That was about the lowest. I came back to show business, and I couldn't get a job. I was turned down by every small-time agent in New York.

  Rodney Dangerfield

  Mother, Jobs, New York

  "Rodney Dangerfield: What I've Learned" by Cal Fussman, www.esquire.com. January 29, 2007.

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• Never quit. My book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, was turned down by 33 publishers. It's since sold millions of copies.

  Jack Canfield

  Book, Soul, Soup

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• I've turned down good directors before because I knew the part didn't speak to me and I've worked with less talented directors before because the part I had such passion for.

  Ethan Hawke

  Passion, Directors, Speak

  "Ethan Hawke Talks Regression". Interview with Josh Lasser, www.ign.com. February 4, 2016.

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• I turned down a contract with a major network in New York my senior year of college in order to move to Los Angeles and pursue my acting career. But so far it's working out.

  Justin Hires

  Senior, New York, Moving

  Source: lasentinel.net

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• When I think about the stuff I turned down it's kind of insane.

  DJ Shadow

  Thinking, Insane, Stuff

  Source: pitchfork.com

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• I think Bob [Dylan] told me that he turned down twenty interviews that year, and I was the only one that he sat down and did an interview with. And, he said that it was one of his highlights, and it was one of my highlights. And, I was very glad to talk with Bob. I found out that he was a good fan of mine, and that tickled me.

  Ralph Stanley

  Thinking, Years, Twenties

  Source: brightestyoungthings.com

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• There's a truly unbelievable story in the paper today, that a young brother and sister... have been turned down for adoption by their own grandparents... If that weren't enough, the siblings are now to be adopted by two complete strangers against the wishes of the grandparents... And as if that weren't enough, the two strangers are a gay couple, who have been selected ahead of several heterosexual couples.

  Andrea Leadsom

  Brother, Couple, Sibling

  Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

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• I turned down a lot of reality shows in the past, but MTV, back in the day, was just the coolest with Cribs to Pimp My Ride.

  Tyga

  Past, Reality, Mtv

  "ManCrushMonday: Tyga Wants You to Know There's A Lot More to Him Than Kylie Jenner". Interview with Erica Gonzales, www.harpersbazaar.com. August 30, 2016.

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• I loved playing baseball, and the only reason I played was to play professional baseball. I wanted that to be my career for a long time. I turned down multiple jobs and meetings because of it.

  Tyler Hoechlin

  Baseball, Jobs, Play

  Source: www.empireonline.com

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• I got turned down for a million jobs until I got my first movie with Francis [Ford Coppola].

  Alden Ehrenreich

  Jobs, Firsts, Millions

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• As I became very defined in my personal politics, I turned down some films that I slightly regret now; I'm not going to say what they were.

  Julie Christie

  Regret, Film, Defined

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• I know, it's weird that I've never done a musical. I turned down two of them. 'The Lion King' and 'The Producers.' I turned two of the biggest Broadway musicals down, am I a mess?

  Mario Cantone

  Kings, Two, Musical

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• People are afraid to ask musicians to be involved in projects because they anticipate being turned down. Young artists hesitate before contacting me. People in my position don't get approached often enough.

  David Sylvian

  Artist, People, Musician

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• The early part of my career I really struggled, getting turned down again and again. I was in debt, and it was horrible. And then my family hit such highs in their careers, I asked myself what I was thinking going into the same profession.

  Joely Richardson

  Thinking, Careers, Debt

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• I turned down all the requests for the rights to the books, for years, mostly because they wanted the rights to the characters, and to turn it into a TV series. This would have allowed them to do anything they wanted with the characters, and that just wasn't an option for me.

  Louise Penny

  Book, Character, Rights

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• I so rarely turned down a role, that I can't say I have any regrets in that regard. There were many roles that I would rather not have done, but having a home and family requires that we sometimes do things we would rather not.

  Terry O'Quinn

  Regret, Home, Roles

  "Biography/ Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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