James Lee Burke Quotes

Rejection is part of the process, so you can't let it crush you. My first three novels never made it into publication, but my fourth, 'Sheltering Rain,' was translated into 11 languages.

When I got out of high school, I wanted to be an actor but was getting a lot of rejections. I was getting rejected by life. My mother, God rest her soul, told me not to quit.

My first novel was rejected by some of the most eminent publishers in the world. Starting again was a real wrench.

I was rejected by casting directors during the day. I attended class in the evening, then rode 90 miles on the train home.

The starkest rejection letter might be followed by a million-dollar advance. Don't let rejection start to look the same as failure.

I have been rejected 120 times, probably because I didn't write the right book.

I'm talking to anyone who has been dumped - have not gotten the job you really wanted or have received those horrible rejection letters from grad school. You know, the disappointment of losing, or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of.

I never got picked for the athletics team for about three years. I was in my third year, and I really wanted to join, and I kept basically knocking on the door of the PE coach. 'Can I join? Can I join?' He's like, 'No... No.' And then one day, he's like, 'Okay, you want to race? Cool. We have a free spot for you. You're gonna be doing the 400.'

I just spent five, six years sacrificing so much to try and fit into that one ideal, that one small standard, and I was never good enough. And it was just frustration that turned into motivation... That became my ammunition, all the people that told me I couldn't.

There are tons of talented people, and they might not even be the most talented, but they're the ones who were so resilient and learned in loss that it was winning by losing.

You do it a day at a time. You just put your rejection slips in a shoebox and tell yourself one day you're going to autograph them and sell them at auction.

You have to always continue to strive no matter how hard things get, no matter how troubled you feel. No matter how tough things get, no matter how many times you lose, you keep trying to win.

What helped me most were my failures and slumps - when I couldn't get work, people weren't interested in me or had written me off.

Pan me, don't give me the part, publish everybody's book but this one and I will still make it!

There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.

If you're not big enough to lose, you're not big enough to win.

You have no choices about how you lose, but you do have a choice about how you come back and prepare to win again.

Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.

I was kicked out of The Stars And Stripes twice, and finally got back in.

Finite to fail, but infinite to venture.

This whole thing about winning and losing is muddy waters. But I can remember, as a young actor, just walking around this city and not being able to get arrested.

Sport and life is about losing. It's about understanding how to lose.

There've been many a season where I couldn't get work, and I think that you learn character development and you learn how to really want what you do in life when you can't really do it.

My first book was rejected nine times. It turned out to be a best seller, Battle Cry? in 1953.

The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.