Were you ever told you couldn’t do something, but you went ahead and did it anyway? That puts you in good company. Every person who ever amounted to anything, every dreamer, every doer, every person who was set on accomplishing something of importance or uniqueness, did so among people who said he or she couldn’t do it. Every significant scientific, technological, athletic, or artistic advance became manifest amidst an audience of naysayers. Here are 101 of those stories.