Anecdote about a singer told she doesn't have what it takes

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I'm looking for more information about an anecdote I read many years ago, the story went something like this:

An aspiring singer sought a famous instructor for advice and after auditioning asked if she has what it takes to be a great singer. He told her that she didn't and she gave up on her dream.

Years later she ran into him again and asked her if he remembered her, "you told me I didn't have what it takes" she reminded him. He replied that he said that to everyone and she was furious, telling him that he'd ruined her dreams.

His reply was something to the effect that if she let that stop her she really didn't have what it takes.

Anybody know the origin of this anecdote?

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@Robert Gentel,

Don't know the origin but I've heard several versions of it before, sometimes with a different ending where the singer walks off in a huff, becomes a big star, goes back to the maestro to confront him, and he says, "I say that to everybody. And if you hadn't followed your dream in spite of what I said, you'd have proved me right." Or words to that effect.

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@Merry Andrew,

I've heard that version told about "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind, but I'm pretty sure it was inaccurate (the connection to Lind).

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Anecdote about a singer told she doesn't have what it takes

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