Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Examples Of 'The Best Revenge Is Massive Success'

A businessman looking up with outstretched arms
Razvan Chisu/Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

When people feel as if they've been wronged, their initial instinct is to retaliate.

Getting revenge is a negative impulse in which the victim feels they can only move on from the situation only after inflicting a similar level of emotional or physical pain or embarassment.

That's not everyone's style, however, and it's not up to us to stoop to the lowest common denominator and give in to our darkest urges to seek justice.

But if you take a moment and consider other alternatives, certain forms of revenge can be sweet.


These were explored when Redditor Fronzie7 quoted a famous music icon to ask:

"Frank Sinatra said, 'The best revenge is massive success' What's a real-life example of this?"

Everyone loves a good Hollywood ending.

You Know You've Made It When You're On A Lunchbox​

"Michael J.Fox has a great story about when he started out. Some big wheel at the network didn't like him for the role of Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties. He was too short, not cute, not heart throb enough, you're never going to see his face on a lunch box. But the producer cast him anyway and the show shot to number one and stayed there."

"Fox sent him a Family Ties lunch box with his face on it and then Back to the Future 1,2,3 lunch boxes."

– Hazelsmom64

A Rocky Start To An Amazing Career

"Sylvester Stallone as well. Casting agents told him he was too stupid looking and he'd only get small roles as the thug who got beaten up. He said he literally went to every casting agent in NYC and got rejected by all of them."

"Even after he wrote Rocky and found producers, they didn't want him to star in it."

– YounomsayinMawfk

The Dreamgirl Who Never Stopped Dreaming

"Jennifer Hudson lost American Idol and became more successful than the winner."

– Stashdragon

"She is a recent EGOT winner and the youngest woman to do it. 7th Place looks fantastic on her."

– jdmccoy

Against all odds, the end result was a victory for these accomplished individuals.

Home Surveillance Home Run

"The guy who invented Ring cameras went on Shark Tank and was rejected by everyone. They all thought it would fail….we’ll you know the rest."

– Ruzzthabus

"He went back on Shark Tank after that, but this time as one of the sharks."

– 1Land_1Keep

The Skies The Limit

"Ron McNair had the police called on him when he was little because he was black and reading in a library. He grew up to be an astronaut and the library he was kicked out of was later named after him."

– sperdush

"For those who may not be familiar with his name; he was one of the Challenger crew members on January 28, 1986."

– This-Marsupial-6187

Emerged From The Shallow

"When Lady GaGa was in college, some of her classmates had a Facebook group called 'Stefani Germanotta, you'll never be famous.'"

"Pretty sure she proved them wrong."

– NotHisRealName

Now these are smart business moves.

Recipe For Success

"Erin French, chef-owner of restaurant The Lost Kitchen in rural Maine."

"Co-owned a restaurant in the town of Belfast with her husband; a very tumultuous relationship ended with him changing the locks on the building with all of her equipment inside."

"She licked her wounds, leased space in an old mill building in her tiny hometown of Freedom, and built from the ground one of the best restaurants in the country, with a coveted reservation that is fabled for its difficulty to get a table. Has her own multi-season documentary on TV and is absolutely killing it in the culinary world now."

– Girhinomofe

A Toy Story

"George Lucas got the ownership of the toy rights to star wars because they don’t think it would be successful. He made an absolute killing on those."

– Birds-aint-real-

"Not just the toy rights, he got the entire IP in exchange for waiving is salary."

– xdert

Lamborghini Origin Story

"Italian industrialist, builder of tractors, made a mint out of it and rewarded himself with a new Ferrari."

"Ferrari broke down. Needed a new clutch. Wealthy industrialist waited patiently for his new clutch to arrive, and after many weeks it finally showed up - same clutch he was putting in his tractors, more than twice the price."

"A little bit annoyed at this, he rang Ferrari to complain. They told him 'go back to building tractors, leave supercars to us.'"

"And Lamborghini was born..."

– RaffiaWorkBase

Gaming Victory

"Sony and Nintendo were working on a console together before the N64 came out, intending to utilize Nintendo's gaming hardware combined with Sony's sound tech to create games with more immersive sound capabilities than have been seen before. Partway through development and immediately following Sony's announcement of their partnership, Nintendo backed out of the deal, which if you're not aware of Japanese business etiquette, is kind of a d*ck move."

"Nintendo backed out to work with Philips to put Nintendo games on the CDi, which resulted in the worst-received Nintendo games of all time."

"Sony, out of spite, went on to make the PlayStation, one of the best-selling consoles in gaming history, and cement themselves as a massive player in the console wars to this day."

– Critical-String8774

Be Kind And Rewind

"Blockbuster laughed baby Netflix out of the room with their idea. Then later, grown-up Netflix killed blockbuster."

– ChurroForSure-o

"Best thing for Netflix, really. Blockbuster would have driven themselves and the Netflix rent model out of business through mismanagement."

"I don't know about you, but I can't live in a world without Voltron: Legendary Defender."

– Tobias_Atwood

So what's the moral of the story?

Basically, always be kind and never make anyone feel less than they deserve. You never know what the future brings, and you putting down someone for your own fleeting gain will come back to haunt you.

Also, remember that karma works in mysterious ways.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Jaime West addressing Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan Uncensored

Indiana Candidate Who Went Viral For Drunken Interview Has Epic Clapback After Piers Morgan Asks If She'll 'Carry On Drinking' If Elected

Indiana Democratic candidate Jaime West had the perfect response for Piers Morgan when asked if she'll quit drinking if elected, a reference to West's recent viral drunken interview.

After moderator Amy Graham-McCarty asked during a televised event what potentially "unpopular" decision West would make in Fayette County's best interest, West was firm in her disgust for MAGA.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Garfield; Robert Pattinson
Lisa O'CONNOR/AFP/Getty Images; Ian West/PA Images/Getty Images

Andrew Garfield Reveals The Disgusting Thing He Once Found In Robert Pattinson's Bedroom—And Yikes

It's always fun to hear behind-the-scenes stories from our favorite films, but it's especially fun to hear early-career stories from actors before they found fame.

The Amazing Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield recently reflected on the Dish Podcast and later the Capital Breakfast podcast about befriending a group of fellow young actors who were all living together, including Jamie Dornan, Eddie Redmayne, Charlie Cox, and Robert Pattinson.

Keep ReadingShow less
Amy Acton; screenshot of Donna Arthur; Vivek Ramaswamy
Jon Cherry/Getty Images; Campaign for Vivek Ramaswamy; Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Ohio Democrat Rips Vivek Ramaswamy For Using Estranged And Abusive Mother In 'Disgusting' Attack Ad

*Trigger Warning: this article contains mentions of child sexual abuse

Democratic Ohio gubernatorial candidate Dr. Amy Acton and her brother criticized billionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, her GOP opponent, after he used their estranged mother in a political attack ad.

Keep ReadingShow less
Apu Finally Returned To 'The Simpsons' With A New Voice Actor—And Fans Have Mixed Feelings
Fox / The Simpsons

Apu Finally Returned To 'The Simpsons' With A New Voice Actor—And Fans Have Mixed Feelings

Eight hundred episodes. More than three decades of television. Countless couch gags, celebrity cameos, and questionable decisions by Homer Simpson.

And somehow, The Simpsons managed to go nearly nine years without giving Apu a single line.

Keep ReadingShow less
Christina Applegate
VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images

Christina Applegate Says She's 'Back At Square One' After Doctor Revealed She Was Misdiagnosed With MS

Christina Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) back in 2021 and has become a leading advocate for the autoimmune disease, raising awareness and encouraging further research.

Now she feels like a fraud who's let people down after discovering that she didn't have MS after all.

Keep ReadingShow less