For everyone, there is a troll

We can’t let anyone get ahead. We can’t encourage, praise or support. It’s far more satisfying to criticize, downplay and slam. So here’s a little book with a fistful of examples of people you’ve mostly heard of, and how their loved ones, managers and educators told them they were worthless. I really mean worthless. Edison, who racked up over a thousand patents, was sent home from school because it (he) was a waste of time. The founder of Kinko’s was drummed out of the family business as too incompetent to handle paperwork. There are similar, laughable and stunning quotes regarding sports heroes, filmmakers, musicians and writers. Even horses, films, plays and books. Everybody has someone to put them down. Hard.

Howard has tried hard to verify the quotes, and fills in with some background on just how successful the victim became. He missed a big one, when Digital CEO Ken Olsen proclaimed there was only demand for about five personal computers in the whole world. Howard attributed the statement to Thomas Watson of IBM, which is why it didn’t hold up and wasn’t included. Oh well. Maybe next edition.

The good news is, if you don’t listen to the trolls, great things can happen.

David Wineberg ( )