But rather than crush their will, rejection spurred them forwards.
Just as Hollywood's first foray into 3-D and widescreen formats in the 1950s was intended to differentiate the theatrical experience from television, the threat from home entertainment is again spurring Hollywood forward.
During King's remarks, which were originally titled "Normalcy, Never Again," she spurred him forward with an offhanded comment ("Tell them about the dream, Martin") that encouraged him to move off his prepared notes and into the improvised, immortal portion of his speech.
But she said her support team and her mother helped spur her forward.
So as the negotiators pass the baton on to the ministers this week, we hope that greater political will can spur compromise forward.
The republication of "A Meaningful Life" has spurred Mr. Davis forward on the four-part history of the Industrial Revolution that he began nearly a decade ago.
The discovery, years later, that her youngest daughter was mentally retarded galvanized Betty Kendall's intelligence and energy and spurred her forward into social service and a consciousness of injustice that eventually grew to embrace the civil rights movement.
Whether or not the agreement incorporates an aspirational rather than a realistic number in seeking to keep warming to no more than 2C, we can still use that number to frame our actions and spur us forward.
Still, speakers at the conference's opening plenary session — which began with a video appeal from children across the world to save them from what looked like an apocalyptic future of deserts and rising seas — were clearly aiming to spur negotiators forward.
Yet a strict reading of the historical record indicates that King and Johnson did, in fact, disagree on timing – that King insisted on the fierce urgency of now, and that his actions in Selma spurred Johnson forward.
