True Comeback Stories of People Who Wouldn't Quit
Every comeback story here is true and verifiable, no legends. Find the person who stood where you're standing: Chris Gardner, Colonel Sanders, James Dyson, WD-40, and more who almost quit and didn't.
NewStarting Again, and a Life That Makes a Difference33 researched true stories, each with its sources, a small step, and a question to sit with.They almost quit
Chris Gardner
Homeless with his son, studying for his shot.
Read the full story →Colonel Sanders
Rejected again and again, franchised in his 60s.
Read the full story →James Dyson
5,126 prototypes failed. Number 5,127 didn't.
Read the full story →WD-40
Named for the 40th attempt, after 39 that failed.
Read the full story →Gabriel Iglesias
Traded $5,000 months for a $20 gig - and lost everything before it paid off.
Read the full story →Nelson Mandela
27 years in prison. Four years later, President - and he forgave.
Read the full story →Higgins & Lucas at Spindletop
Nine years of ridicule and dry holes. Then the hill answered.
Read the full story →It Looked Like Failure
The Failure That Bounced: The Silly Putty Story
Useless as rubber. Nobody could throw it away, either.
Read the full story →A Solution Waiting for Its Problem: The Post-it Note Story
A glue that barely stuck - and twelve years of believing in it.
Read the full story →By topic
Rejected First
Colonel Sanders was in his sixties, driving town to town, hearing no.
Failed Forward
5,126 prototypes failed. Number 5,127 didn't.
Starting Over
Thirteen years out of the cockpit - and then one sentence.
Late Bloomers
Kroc was 52. Grandma Moses was 78.
He Can Do It Again
Four true stories from our founder - provision that was older than the prayer.
The Night I Heard the Word Church
One word, three times in the night. The next afternoon it knocked.
Comebacks of the Bible
A fugitive, a prisoner, a denier, a persecutor.
Businesses That Almost Died
Lego was nearly bankrupt. Apple was 90 days from it.
The Neighborhood That Came Back Twice
Tribeca was written off - twice. Look at it now.
The Ripple
You never know what you're carrying.
The Nobodies
God's favorite couriers have always been nobodies.
One Person Believed in Them
The whole site in five words.
Climbing Down the Mountain
Some summits you conquer. Some you leave.
The Upside-Down Kingdom
50 reversals Jesus said. The way up is down.
When It Looks Impossible
Giants, walls, dry bones - your dead end is not God's dead end.
The Story Jesus Told That Became a Law
A priest passed. A Levite passed. A Samaritan stopped.
Amazing Grace
The wretch in the song was the man who wrote it.
The Amistad
They freed themselves first. The courts caught up later.