A Nation of Second Acts.

Most people probably don't know that Abraham Lincoln never won an election until he became President of the United States. In fact, he had a nervous breakdown while in his thirties because his life was such a mess.

Most people probably don't know that U.S. Grant failed at every job he ever had. He was working for 12 cents a day on his father's farm at the age of 37.

Most people probably don't know that Frank Sinatra couldn't get a gig at a twenty-seat Italian restaurant in Hoboken in 1951 because his voice was gone and he no longer had a movie contract.

Most people probably don't know that Muhammad Ali, during his forced layoff from 1968-1971, had to borrow money from Howard Cosell to feed his family. He borrowed $500 and bought loaves of bread and bologna and froze them so he would have enough for his three kids.

Most people probably don't know that when Fred Astaire first auditioned for the movies, the comment on his audition card said, "Can't sing, is ugly, dances a little."

Most people probably don't know that when Jesus trekked back into his hometown after preaching around the countryside for a few years was laughed at. They allegedly said to him, "You're a carpenter, not a prophet, take that shit somewhere else."

Most people probably don't know that that Edgar Allan Poe slept on a park bench, was homeless, and was writing short stories with a short pencil on the back of pieces of paper he found on the street. That's how he wrote The Tell-Tale Heart.

Most people probably don't know that Harry Truman worked in a hat shop, a haberdashery, because he couldn't find a job anywhere else and had failed miserably as a farmer. He was 44 years old.

Most people probably don't know that John Kennedy O'Toole, the author of Confederacy of Dunces, showed his hand-written novel to several publishers. They all made fun of him. He killed himself and the book won a Pulitzer.

Most people don't know that Einstein failed calculus.

Most people probably don't know that by 1970 not a single motion picture studio would hire Marlon Brando because he was just too much trouble.

Most people probably don't know that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. His coach told him he just didn't have what it takes.

Most people probably don't know that Vincent Van Gogh didn't sell a single piece of artwork while he was alive.

Most people probably don't know that J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings was singularly trashed when it was published. One critic said of it, "This is the longest, most boring piece of writing I have ever been forced to read."

Most people probably don't know that Katherine Hepburn's first review on broadway contained this sentence, "She simply cannot act."

Most people probably don't know that the first time Tennessee Williams approached a producer for The Glass Menagerie, he was told, "nothing happens in this play. Why would anyone want to watch something like this?"

We live in a nation of second acts.

See you tomorrow.