Rejection does not have to go hand in hand with humiliation.

No matter how frustrated we are for the situation, no matter how much we have pondered and considered and reviewed, no matter how much time we have lost. In the moment when we deliver a decision of rejection, history is meaningless, and all that matters is helping the person we reject to maintain their face and rebuild their confidence, so that they can move on and do fantastic things.

In fact, rejection is more easily accepted when it does not come with humiliation attached to it.