Life And Time: ‘Thoughts On Success’

The late great Charles Kuralt, CBS correspondent, author, speaker, the “On The Road” wanderer, gave this speech to graduating seniors at Trinity College’s 165th commencement in Hartford, Connecticut (1988):

“If at first you don’t succeed,
The saying says that then,
The thing to do is not give up
But try, try again.

But if at first you don’t succeed,
A saying isn’t what you need.

Before you throw the towel in,
Before you call it quits,
Consider these examples
While you’re down there in the pits.

In his life Van Gogh did not sell any paintings;
No such luck
Just a year or so ago
One of his sold for 82 million bucks.

‘Lust for Life’ by Irving Stone,
The story of Van Gogh,
Was turned down by many publishers.
Seventeen said, ‘No.’
‘The public won’t buy this book,’
Irving Stone was told.
At last report some 30 million copies had been sold.

Julia Child’s first cookbook was rejected.
She’d be the first to say,
It failed as flat out as a novice’s souffle.

The Beatles were rejected
And it seemed they might be through
Before Paraflon took them on in 1962.

A balding skinny actor,
It’s in black and white right there,
‘Can dance a little,’ says the sheet
Rejecting Fred Astaire.

The inventor Robert Fulton had a quite inventive dream
Of ships that would be powered not by wind, you see, but steam.
‘Fulton’s Folly’ they all called it.
It would never leave the dock,
And the man who was behind it
Was of course a laughingstock.

Lech Walesa led a shipyard strike
And was told by one and all
It was hopeless
And he shouldn’t beat
His head against the wall.

A young part-time reporter in 1933
Who worked for just one buck a day
At the old KTUT
Was told he better stick to print.
Air talent wasn’t his.
‘Sorry, Walter,’ he was told,
‘but that’s the way it is.’

We look up at the starry sky
And wonder at the night
And feel so insignificant, as well indeed we might.
But if we let our dreams pass by,
Untested on our shelves
The fault, dear Brutus, lies
Not in our stars but in ourselves.

‘To dream,’ as Mr. Shakespeare wrote,
‘To dream, ah, there’s the rub,’
And if at first you don’t succeed,
Well, welcome to the club.”

Editor’s note: The river of quality reporting led by curiosity from Charles Kuralt and Warren Gardner of Meriden, Connecticut, is sorely missed. These talented humans led by example, lived their lives to the fullest potential, and shared their discoveries. And to Marilyn Spencer, editor/photojournalist, who took a chance and hired a young writer who needed badly to support a family. Thank you, thank you, thank you.