From a Wall Street Journal story by Lane Florsheim headlined “Why Sylvester Stallone Tries to Intimidate His Daughters’ Boyfriends”:

Sylvester Stallone is one of the most famous actors of his generation. But he says he owes most of his success to failure.

“If I had made it like I wished early on in my career, I never would have turned to writing,” said Stallone, 76, who drafted the original script for “Rocky” in three days when he was a struggling actor. “I did that to fill time and to feel creative, even though the writing was truly horrible. It wasn’t even birdcage-worthy. You know what I mean? It’s not even worth lining a birdcage with.”