What exactly does one suppose as dead dreams? I think sometimes we have a distorted idea of success. We can have multiple dreams but not everything will be for public applause. For eg. One may become a well known writer but a good though not a famous musician or vice versa. That is alright as long as you keep honing your craft because you love doing it. Loving what you do is itself a successful mindset to have. As someone has mentioned here rightly, some things just take time as in everybody has their own timeline. What you work at today may bear fruit a decade later, but that still would be as amazing. Dreams don't die if you keep nurturing them but if you think it from the aspect of public validation, that to me isn't fair to oneself.