第一篇：《哈利波特》之母JK羅琳的11堂人生課

《哈利波特》之母JK羅琳的11堂人生課

So you didn’t have a perfect childhood? Sorry for your loss.What a great excuse you may have for not going all the way to make your dreams come true.你的童年不夠美好？對此我深表遺憾?？蛇@又算什么理由，竟能阻礙你一路追逐夢想的實現！Warning: today your excuses may be gone forever, no matter what your life looks like.After reading these golden nuggets of life delivered by JK Rowling to a graduating class at Harvard, you will be in on her life secrets.These mini lessons take you from any excuse to the life of your dreams.Read at your own risk.By the end of this post, you will have no reason left to stuff your big and little dreams under the mattress.提醒一句：不管生活過得怎樣，從今天起或許你將再也不找借口了。讀完JK羅琳給哈佛畢業生們的金玉良言，你便能學到她的人生智慧。這些言簡意賅的道理將使你不再為人生夢想而不斷找借口。請勇敢往下讀吧。最后，你將再也不會找任何借口任由各種夢想擱淺停滯了！

A lightning idea struck, and she became a billionaire author.Are you ready to enter your magical life? Here are some of her life philosophies that you too can take on.只是靈光一閃，羅琳就變成了億萬文豪。你是否也準備開啟自己的奇幻人生了呢？下面是羅琳的人生哲學，或許你能從中受益：

1.Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.最低谷成了我重建生活的堅實根基。Here is how JK perceived her rock bottom: 羅琳是這樣理解“人生低谷”的：

I had failed on an epic scale.An exceptionally short lived marriage hadimploded and I was a jobless alone parent and as poor as it was possible to be in Britain without being homeless.我遇到了前所未有的挫敗。意外短暫的婚姻遺憾而終，我成了一個沒有工作的單身母親，除了還不至于無家可歸外，當時要多窮有多窮。

You too can build up from your own rock bottom, laying a foundation for your dreams and goals, no matter where you are at in this very moment.不管此時此刻境遇如何，你都可以從低谷開始，為自己的夢想和目標夯實基礎。2.Failure gave me an inner security that I have never had by passing examinations.失敗給了我一種內心安全感，這是我通過考試都不曾有過的感覺。

Does inner security comes from a job, money, getting an A? The perfect spouse or relationship? 內心安全感源于工作、金錢還是成績得A？抑或完美的伴侶或人際關系？ Not according to Jo.Her inner security came from failure.至少羅琳不是如此。她的內心安全感來自于失敗。Failure meant the stripping away of the inessential.失敗意味著剝離無關緊要的一切。

What can you strip away? What is inessential in your life? What will be left? What’s left is only what’s important to you along with inner security that you are choosing only a path that is right for you.你能擺脫什么？哪些是你生活中無關緊要的？剩下的又會是什么？剩下的才是真正重要的，懷著內心的安全感，你選擇那條唯一正確的道路。

3.Poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.無知的人才會將貧窮浪漫化。貧窮意味著數不盡的羞辱和艱辛。

Some people associate poverty with spirituality.Or they think that it’s romantic to be writhing in hunger and cold, scratching out your craft anyway, digging deep.有人將貧窮與靈性修養聯系在一起，或者認為在饑餓寒冷中痛苦掙扎、任憑本領漸漸磨滅、深入骨髓的境遇，是浪漫的。

Jo disagrees.Why romanticize humiliation and hardships? 羅琳對此并不認同。為什么要把羞辱和艱辛浪漫化呢？

I cannot criticize my parents for hoping I would never experience poverty.They had been poor themselves and I have since been poor.And I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.我不能指責父母希望我永遠都不要經歷貧窮。他們一直活在貧窮之中，我自己也是。所以我非常認同父母的看法：貧窮并不是什么體面的境遇。

It may be time for you to romanticize wealth and abundance, and look forward to bringing your gifts to this world, while satiated, with some extra money in the bank.Now that is ennobling.或許現在你應該將財富浪漫化，期待為世界貢獻自己的價值，同時能獲得回報，銀行里有點存款。這才是體面的境遇。

4.Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates.天賦和才能并不會使你免遭命運無常的捉弄。

So you have a college education or know you’re smart.That’s great, but as far as the fates, well as Jo says, “Your qualifications are not your life.” There’s no room for self-judgment here—life is what it is for all of us.Do what you can to get what you want.Keep on keeping on, and don’t give up.你有大學文憑，自認為很聰明，是吧?那也無可厚非。但在命運這里，羅琳認為“你的資歷并不能構成你的人生”。毫無自我評判的余地——生活對所有人都是自行其道。所以，請量力而行地爭取渴望的東西。請堅持再堅持，千萬不要放棄！

5.The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.當你成熟到足夠自己把握方向盤的時候，責任也隨之而來。

If you’re blaming someone else for you not finding your own dream and bringing it to life, grab the wheel;you’re old enough to drive.如果你還不知道自己的夢想是什么、該如何實現，卻又去埋怨別人的話，就請握好方向盤吧——你已經到了可以自己駕駛的年紀了。

I do not blame my parents…there is an expiry date for blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction.I discovered that I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected.我不會去怪父母……埋怨父母錯了方向也是有期限的。我發現自己的毅力和自律遠比想象的強大。

You have what it takes, so take it.The minute you stop blaming, you can start steering.既得之，則用之。一旦停止抱怨，你也就開始掌控了自己的方向。

6.We do not need magic to transform our world.We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.我們不需要魔法來改變世界，因為我們的內心就已經擁有了所有力量。

Wouldn’t it be nice to have Harry or Hermione’s magic wand? Or to go into a wand shop and browse? 如果能擁有哈利或赫敏的魔杖豈不是很厲害？或者去魔杖店親自挑選呢？

If Jo tells you that you have magic and power inside yourself, then you do.Believe it, allow it to surface and get ready for a wild ride.如果羅琳認為你自身就擁有神奇力量，那你確實就有。請相信你的力量、發揮出你的力量，去開啟一段瘋狂旅程吧！

7.The crucial importance of imagination.想象力極其重要。

Did you think imagination is to be left for the kids? Maybe you’re just a big kid after all.你以為只有小孩才有想象力嗎？或許你自己就是個大小孩呢！

Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not and therefore the fount of all invention…we have the power to imagine better.想象力不僅是人類獨有的想象能力，同時也是所有發明的源泉……我們有能力想象得更美好。It is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we never shared.這種力量能讓我們體會到自身不曾經歷的他人經驗。

Go ahead and daydream.Let your imagination run where it may and imagine a better life, a better world.You have Jo’s permission.請盡情做夢吧。讓想象力自由奔放，去想象更美好的生活、更和諧的社會。羅琳允許你這么做！

8.The first story I finished was when I was six years old.我6歲時寫完了第一個故事。

Our childhoods have lots of clues.What were you doing when you were six? What toy did you want? What did you play with? 從小看到老。6歲時你在干什么？你喜歡過什么樣的玩具，又有哪些玩伴兒？

If you can’t remember, take a trip to the virtual toy store and see what you want to play with and play.It may lead to what you really want to be doing.如果你記不起來，可以到實體玩具店看看自己喜歡什么，然后玩一玩?；蛟S你就能發現自己真正想要從事什么。

9.I began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.我開始把所有精力投入到唯一重要的事情中去。What work matters to you? 什么樣的事情對你而言是重要的？

I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was.我不再假裝是真實自我之外的其他人。What might you be pretending to be? What box are you in? Climb on out.你會假裝成什么樣的人？你陷在怎樣的圍城里？趕緊出來吧。

10.Harry Potter gave me back self-respect.Harry gave me a job to do that I loved more than anything else.《哈利波特》為我贏得了自尊，讓我從事了自己最喜歡的工作。

Do what you love and what you are meant to do and the self-respect will follow.選你所愛、做你所想，自尊便會自然而來。

11.It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might not have lived at all, in which case you fail by default.活著不可能不犯錯，除非你過得極其謹慎、仿佛不曾活過一樣，可這樣你其實也還是犯了錯失敗了。

Failure is good.It means you are out in the ring, not in the nosebleed section, watching other people battle it out.失敗是有益的。失敗意味著你出局了，不在血腥的現場，看別人你爭我斗。

There was a point where I really felt I had ‘penniless divorcee lone parent’ tattooed on my head.有一段時間，我真的覺得自己腦門上刻著‘身無分文的離異單親媽媽’字樣。What I feared most;failure.I was the biggest failure I knew.我最最害怕的就是失敗，可我自己就是最大的失敗。

What do you think you have tattooed on your forehead? Too old to start?Young and inexperienced?Too poor? Too scared? 你覺得你腦門上刻著什么字？年紀太大為時已晚？年輕青澀毫無經驗？太窮？沒膽量？ Time to pour the concrete and lay the foundation for greater things.是時候去為更美好的事情和泥砌根基了。Here is a bonus life lesson:

以下是額外的人生課堂：

“I don’t think about who the audience is for my books.” Expectations of others can rule our lives if we let them.IF we let them.“我不會考慮書的讀者是誰?！?如果我們允許，真的只要我們允許，別人的期望就能約束我們的生活。

“I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself and what those closest to me expected of me.” “我很努力地去平衡自我抱負和身邊人對我的期許。”

Take a break from wondering how to create your career based on what others want.If you do what helps you, with the gifts you have, you will do as Jo did.先緩一緩，不要困惑如何按照別人的期許來創造你的職業生涯。如果能做好有用之事，再憑借自身天賦，你也會像羅琳那樣成功。

So there you have it.Life on JK Rowling’s terms.這就是你能學到的。這就是JK羅琳的人生教誨。

“I was set free because my greatest fear had been realized.And I was still alive and I still had a daughter whom I adored and I had an old typewriterand a big idea.” Go ahead.Set yourself free.Your failures can be your stepping stones to greatness.This one life you have is yours to live.Do what you love and want to do—that’s where the magic is.Believe in yourself.“我自由了，因為最大的恐懼已成為現實。我還活著，還有一個深愛著的女兒；我有一臺舊打字機，并且有一個很棒的想法?！?開始行動，給自己自由吧！你的失敗也可能是將來成功的墊腳石。這輩子需要由你自己來過。所以，請做自己喜歡和渴望的事情——這才是魔法魅力所在。請相信你自己！

Light yourself up and dig deep for the magic inside you.It’s there, and it’s in all of us.Harry leads the way!請點亮內心希望，發揮你內在的魔力吧。魔力是存在的，所有人都擁有這樣的魔力。哈利波特，請領路！

第二篇：《哈利波特》作者JK羅琳的11堂人生課（小編推薦）

So you didn’t have a perfect childhood? Sorry for your loss.What a great excuse you may have for not going all the way to make your dreams come true.你的童年不夠美好?對此我深表遺憾。可這又算什么理由，竟能阻礙你一路追逐夢想的實現!

Warning: today your excuses may be gone forever, no matter what your life looks like.After reading these golden nuggets of life delivered by JK Rowling to a graduating class at Harvard, you will be in on her life secrets.These mini lessons take you from any excuse to the life of your dreams.Read at your own risk.By the end of this post, you will have no reason left to stuff your big and little dreams under the mattress.提醒一句：不管生活過得怎樣，從今天起或許你將再也不找借口了。讀完JK羅琳給哈佛畢業生們的金玉良言，你便能學到她的人生智慧。這些言簡意賅的道理將使你不再為人生夢想而不斷找借口。請勇敢往下讀吧。最后，你將再也不會找任何借口任由各種夢想擱淺停滯了!

A lightning idea struck, and she became a billionaire author.Are you ready to enter your magical life? Here are some of her life philosophies that you too can take on.只是靈光一閃，羅琳就變成了億萬文豪。你是否也準備開啟自己的奇幻人生了呢?下面是羅琳的人生哲學，或許你能從中受益：

1.Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.最低谷成了我重建生活的堅實根基。

Here is how JK perceived her rock bottom:

羅琳是這樣理解人生低谷的：

I had failed on an epic scale.An exceptionally short lived marriage had imploded and I was a jobless alone parent and as poor as it was possible to be in Britain without being homeless.我遇到了前所未有的挫敗。意外短暫的婚姻遺憾而終，我成了一個沒有工作的單身母親，除了還不至于無家可歸外，當時要多窮有多窮。

You too can build up from your own rock bottom, laying a foundation for your dreams and goals, no matter where you are at in this very moment.不管此時此刻境遇如何，你都可以從低谷開始，為自己的夢想和目標夯實基礎。

2.Failure gave me an inner security that I have never had by passing examinations.失敗給了我一種內心安全感，這是我通過考試都不曾有過的感覺。

Does inner security comes from a job, money, getting an A? The perfect spouse or relationship?

內心安全感源于工作、金錢還是成績得A?抑或完美的伴侶或人際關系?

Not according to Jo.Her inner security came from failure.至少羅琳不是如此。她的內心安全感來自于失敗。

Failure meant the stripping away of the inessential.失敗意味著剝離無關緊要的一切。

What can you strip away? What is inessential in your life? What will be left? What’s left is only what’s important to you along with inner security that you are choosing only a path that is right for you.你能擺脫什么?哪些是你生活中無關緊要的?剩下的又會是什么?剩下的才是真正重要的，懷著內心的安全感，你選擇那條唯一正確的道路。

3.Poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.無知的人才會將貧窮浪漫化。貧窮意味著數不盡的羞辱和艱辛。

Some people associate poverty with spirituality.Or they think that it’s romantic to be writhing in hunger and cold, scratching out your craft anyway, digging deep.有人將貧窮與靈性修養聯系在一起，或者認為在饑餓寒冷中痛苦掙扎、任憑本領漸漸磨滅、深入骨髓的境遇，是浪漫的。

Jo disagrees.Why romanticize humiliation and hardships?

羅琳對此并不認同。為什么要把羞辱和艱辛浪漫化呢?

I cannot criticize my parents for hoping I would never experience poverty.They had been poor themselves and I have since been poor.And I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.我不能指責父母希望我永遠都不要經歷貧窮。他們一直活在貧窮之中，我自己也是。所以我非常認同父母的看法：貧窮并不是什么體面的境遇。

It may be time for you to romanticize wealth and abundance, and look forward to bringing your gifts to this world, while satiated, with some extra money in the bank.Now that is ennobling.或許現在你應該將財富浪漫化，期待為世界貢獻自己的價值，同時能獲得回報，銀行里有點存款。這才是體面的境遇。

4.Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates.天賦和才能并不會使你免遭命運無常的捉弄。

So you have a college education or know you’re smart.That’s great, but as far as the fates, well as Jo says, Your qualifications are not your life.There’s no room for self-judgment here—life is what it is for all of us.Do what you can to get what you want.Keep on keeping on, and don’t give up.你有大學文憑，自認為很聰明，是吧?那也無可厚非。但在命運這里，羅琳認為你的資歷并不能構成你的人生。毫無自我評判的余地——生活對所有人都是自行其道。所以，請量力而行地爭取渴望的東西。請堅持再堅持，千萬不要放棄!

5.The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.當你成熟到足夠自己把握方向盤的時候，責任也隨之而來。

If you’re blaming someone else for you not finding your own dream and bringing it to life, grab the wheel;you’re old enough to drive.如果你還不知道自己的夢想是什么、該如何實現，卻又去埋怨別人的話，就請握好方向盤吧——你已經到了可以自己駕駛的年紀了。

I do not blame my parentsthere is an expiry date for blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction.I discovered that I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected.我不會去怪父母埋怨父母錯了方向也是有期限的。我發現自己的毅力和自律遠比想象的強大。

You have what it takes, so take it.The minute you stop blaming, you can start steering.既得之，則用之。一旦停止抱怨，你也就開始掌控了自己的方向。

6.We do not need magic to transform our world.We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.我們不需要魔法來改變世界，因為我們的內心就已經擁有了所有力量。

Wouldn’t it be nice to have Harry or Hermione’s magic wand? Or to go into a wand shop and browse?

如果能擁有哈利或赫敏的魔杖豈不是很厲害?或者去魔杖店親自挑選呢?

If Jo tells you that you have magic and power inside yourself, then you do.Believe it, allow it to surface and get ready for a wild ride.如果羅琳認為你自身就擁有神奇力量，那你確實就有。

第三篇：JK羅琳演講稿

J·K·羅琳，英國作家。原名喬安娜·羅琳或喬安·羅琳（Joanne Rowling），《哈利·波特》系列作品的作者。作為一個單身母親，剛開始哈利叢書的創作時。羅琳母女的生活極其艱辛。她的第一本書《哈利·波特與魔法石》前后共寫了5年，羅琳因為自家的屋子又小又冷，時常到住家附近的一家咖啡館里。故事完成后，羅琳多次寄出書稿均遭到拒絕。不過，她的努力終于得到了回報。在一所小印刷商Bloomsbury接下印刷權后，一出版便備受矚目，好評如潮。她的生活發生天翻地覆地變化。她被稱為“哈利·波特之母”，以天才的想象力孕育了風靡全球的小魔法師哈利·波特，她也從一個貧困潦倒、默默無聞的“灰姑娘”，一躍成為盡享尊榮、財產超過英國女王的作家首富。

JK羅琳2008哈佛畢業典禮演講：不要害怕失敗

福斯特主席，哈佛公司和監察委員會的各位成員，各位老師、家長、全體畢業生們：

首先請允許我說一聲謝謝。哈佛不僅給了我無上的榮譽，連日來為這個演講經受的恐懼和緊張，更令我減肥成功。這真是一個雙贏的局面?，F在我要做的就是深呼吸幾下，瞇著眼睛看看前面的大紅橫幅，安慰自己正在世界上最大的格蘭芬多聚會上。

發表畢業演說是一個巨大的責任，至少在我回憶自己當年的畢業典禮前是這么認為的。那天做演講的是英國著名的哲學家 Baroness Mary Warnock，對她演講的回憶，對我寫今天的演講稿，產生了極大的幫助，因為我不記得她說過的任何一句話了。這個發現讓我釋然，讓我不再擔心我可能會無意中影響你放棄在商業，法律或政治上的大好前途，轉而醉心于成為一個快樂的魔法師（gay有快樂和同性戀的意思）。

你們看，如果在若干年后你們還記得“快樂的魔法師”這個笑話，那就證明我已經超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可實現的目標——這是提高自我的第一步。

實際上，我為今天應該和大家談些什么絞盡了腦汁。我問自己什么是我希望早在畢業典禮上就該了解的，而從那時起到現在的 21年間，我又得到了什么重要的啟示。

我想到了兩個答案。在這美好的一天，當我們一起慶祝你們取得學業成就的時刻，我希望告訴你們失敗有什么樣的益處；在你們即將邁向“現實生活”的道路之際，我還要褒揚想象力的重要性。

這些似乎是不切實際或自相矛盾的選擇，但請先容我講完。

回顧21歲剛剛畢業時的自己，對于今天42歲的我來說，是一個稍微不太舒服的經歷。可以說，我人生的前一部分，一直掙扎在自己的雄心和身邊的人對我的期望之間。

我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是寫小說。不過，我的父母，他們都來自貧窮的背景，沒有任何一人上過大學，堅持認為我過度的想象力是一個令人驚訝的個人怪癖，根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者取得足夠的養老金。

我現在明白反諷就像用卡通鐵砧去打擊你，但...他們希望我去拿個職業學位，而我想去攻讀英國文學。最后，達成了一個雙方都不甚滿意的妥協：我改學現代語言。可是等到父母一走開，我立刻放棄了德語而報名學習古典文學。

我不記得將這事告訴了父母，他們可能是在我畢業典禮那一天才發現的。我想，在全世界的所有專業中，他們也許認為，不會有比研究希臘神話更沒用的專業了，根本無法換來一間獨立寬敞的衛生間。

我想澄清一下：我不會因為父母的觀點，而責怪他們。埋怨父母給你指錯方向是有一個時間段的。當你成長到可以控制自我方向的時候，你就要自己承擔責任了。尤其是，我不會因為父母希望我不要過窮日子，而責怪他們。他們一直很貧窮，我后來也一度很窮，所以我很理解他們。貧窮并不是一種高貴的經歷，它帶來恐懼、壓力、有時還有絕望，它意味著許許多多的羞辱和艱辛?？孔约旱呐[脫貧窮，確實可以引以自豪，但貧窮本身只有對傻瓜而言才是浪漫的。

我在你們這個年齡，最害怕的不是貧窮，而是失敗。

我在您們這么大時，明顯缺乏在大學學習的動力，我花了太久時間在咖啡吧寫故事，而在課堂的時間卻很少。我有一個通過考試的訣竅，并且數年間一直讓我在大學生活和同齡人中不落人后。

我不想愚蠢地假設，因為你們年輕、有天份，并且受過良好的教育，就從來沒有遇到困難或心碎的時刻。擁有才華和智慧，從來不會使人對命運的反復無常有所準備；我也不會假設大家坐在這里冷靜地滿足于自身的優越感。

相反，你們是哈佛畢業生的這個事實，意味著你們并不很了解失敗。你們也許極其渴望成功，所以非常害怕失敗。說實話，你們眼中的失敗，很可能就是普通人眼中的成功，畢竟你們在學業上已經達到很高的高度了。

最終，我們所有人都必須自己決定什么算作失敗，但如果你愿意，世界是相當渴望給你一套標準的。所以我想很公平的講，從任何傳統的標準看，在我畢業僅僅七年后的日子里，我的失敗達到了史詩般空前的規模：短命的婚姻閃電般地破裂，我又失業成了一個艱難的單身母親。除了流浪漢，我是當代英國最窮的人之一，真的一無所有。當年父母和我自己對未來的擔憂，現在都變成了現實。按照慣常的標準來看，我也是我所知道的最失敗的人。

現在，我不打算站在這里告訴你們，失敗是有趣的。那段日子是我生命中的黑暗歲月，我不知道它是否代表童話故事里需要歷經的磨難，更不知道自己還要在黑暗中走多久。很長一段時間里，前面留給我的只是希望，而不是現實。

那么為什么我要談論失敗的好處呢？因為失敗意味著剝離掉那些不必要的東西。我因此不再偽裝自己、遠離自我，而重新開始把所有精力放在對我最重要的事情上。如果不是沒有在其他領域成功過，我可能就不會找到，在一個我確信真正屬于的舞臺上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因為最害怕的雖然已經發生了，但我還活著，我仍然有一個我深愛的女兒，我還有一個舊打字機和一個很大的想法。所以困境的谷底，成為我重建生活的堅實基礎。

你們可能永遠沒有達到我經歷的那種失敗程度，但有些失敗，在生活中是不可避免的。生活不可能沒有一點失敗，除非你生活的萬般小心，而那也意味著你沒有真正在生活了。無論怎樣，有些失敗還是注定地要發生。

失敗使我的內心產生一種安全感，這是我從考試中沒有得到過的。失敗讓我看清自己，這也是我通過其他方式無法體會的。我發現，我比自己認為的，要有更強的意志和決心。我還發現，我擁有比寶石更加珍貴的朋友。

從挫折中獲得智慧、變得堅強，意味著你比以往任何時候都更有能力生存。只有在逆境來臨的時候，你才會真正認識你自己，了解身邊的人。這種了解是真正的財富，雖然是用痛苦換來的，但比我以前得到的任何資格證書都有用。

如果給我一部時間機器，我會告訴21歲的自己，人的幸福在于知道生活不是一份漂亮的成績單，你的資歷、簡歷，都不是你的生活，雖然你會碰到很多與我同齡或更老一點的人今天依然還在混淆兩者。生活是艱辛的，復雜的，超出任何人的控制能力，而謙恭地了解這一點，將使你歷經滄桑后能夠更好的生存。

對于第二個主題的選擇——想象力的重要性——你們可能會認為是因為它對我重建生活起到了幫助，但事實并非完全如此。雖然我愿誓死捍衛睡前要給孩子講故事的價值觀，我對想象力的理解已經有了更廣泛的含義。想象力不僅僅是人類設想還不存在的事物這種獨特的能力，為所有發明和創新提供源泉，它還是人類改造和揭露現實的能力，使我們同情自己不曾經受的他人苦難。

其中一個影響最大的經歷發生在我寫哈利波特之前，為我隨后寫書提供了很多想法。這些想法成形于我早期的工作經歷，在20 多歲時，盡管我可以在午餐時間里悄悄寫故事，可為了付房租，我做的主要工作是在倫敦總部的大赦國際研究部門。

在我的小辦公室，我看到了人們匆匆寫的信件，它們是從極權主義政權被偷送出來的。那些人冒著被監禁的危險，告知外面的世界他們那里正在發生的事情。我看到了那些無跡可尋的人的照片，它們是被那些絕望的家人和朋友送來的。我看過拷問受害者的證詞和被害的照片。我打開過手寫的目擊證詞，描述綁架和強奸犯的審判和處決。

我有很多的同事是前政治犯，他們已離開家園流離失所，或逃亡流放，因為他們敢于懷疑政府、獨立思考。來我們辦公室的訪客，包括那些前來提供信息，或想設法知道那些被迫留下的同志發生了什么事的人。

我將永遠不會忘記一個非洲酷刑的受害者，一名當時還沒有我大的年輕男子，他因在故鄉的經歷而精神錯亂。在攝像機前講述被殘暴地摧殘的時候，他顫抖失控。他比我高一英尺，卻看上去像一個脆弱的兒童。我被安排隨后護送他到地鐵站，這名生活已被殘酷地打亂的男子，小心翼翼地握著我的手，祝我未來生活幸福。

只要我活著，我還會記得，在一個空蕩蕩的的走廊，突然從背后的門里，傳來我從未聽過的痛苦和恐懼的尖叫。門打開了，調查員探出頭請求我，為坐在她旁邊的青年男子，調一杯熱飲料。她剛剛給他的消息是，為了報復他對國家政權的批評，他的母親已經被捕并執行了槍決。

在我20多歲的那段日子，每一天的工作，都在提醒我自己是多么幸運。生活在一個民選政府的國家，依法申述與公開審理，是所有人的權利。

每一天，我都能看到更多有關惡人的證據，他們為了獲得或維持權力，對自己的同胞犯下暴行。我開始做噩夢，真正意義上的噩夢，全都和我所見所聞有關。

同時在這里我也了解到更多關于人類的善良，比我以前想象的要多很多。

大赦動員成千上萬沒有因為個人信仰而受到折磨或監禁的人，去為那些遭受這種不幸的人奔走。人類同理心的力量，引發集體行動，拯救生命，解放囚犯。個人的福祉和安全有保證的普通百姓，攜手合作，大量挽救那些他們素不相識，也許永遠不會見面的人。我用自己微薄的力量參與了這一過程，也獲得了更大的啟發。

不同于在這個星球上任何其他的動物，人類可以學習和理解未曾經歷過的東西。他們可以將心比心、設身處地的理解他人。

當然，這種能力，就像在我虛構的魔法世界里一樣，在道德上是中立的。一個人可能會利用這種能力去操縱控制，也有人選擇去了解同情。

而很多人選擇不去使用他們的想象力。他們選擇留在自己舒適的世界里，從來不愿花力氣去想想如果生在別處會怎樣。他們可以拒絕去聽別人的尖叫，看一眼囚禁的籠子；他們可以封閉自己的內心，只要痛苦不觸及個人，他們可以拒絕去了解。

我可能會受到誘惑，去嫉妒那樣生活的人。但我不認為他們做的噩夢會比我更少。選擇生活在狹窄的空間，可以導致不敢面對開闊的視野，給自己帶來恐懼感。我認為不愿展開想像的人會看到更多的怪獸，他們往往更感到更害怕。

更甚的是，那些選擇不去同情的人，可能會激活真正的怪獸。因為盡管自己沒有犯下罪惡，我們卻通過冷漠與之勾結。

我18歲開始從古典文學中汲取許多知識，其中之一當時并不完全理解，那就是希臘作家普魯塔克所說：我們內心獲得的，將改變外在的現實。

那是一個驚人的論斷，在我們生活的每一天里被無數次證實。它指明我們與外部世界有無法脫離的聯系，我們以自身的存在接觸著他人的生命。

但是，哈佛大學的2008屆畢業生們，你們多少人有可能去觸及他人的生命？你們的智慧，你們努力工作的能力，以及你們所受到的教育，給予你們獨特的地位和責任。甚至你們的國籍也讓你們與眾不同，你們絕大部份人屬于這個世界上唯一的超級大國。你們表決的方式，你們生活的方式，你們抗議的方式，你們給政府帶來的壓力，具有超乎尋常的影響力。這是你們的特權，也是你們的責任。

如果你選擇利用自己的地位和影響，去為那些沒有發言權的人發出聲音；如果你選擇不僅與強者為伍，還會同情幫扶弱者；如果你會設身處地為不如你的人著想，那么你的存在，將不僅是你家人的驕傲，更是無數因為你的幫助而改變命運的成千上萬人的驕傲。我們不需要改變世界的魔法，我們自己的內心就有這種力量：那就是我們一直在夢想，讓這個世界變得更美好。

我的演講要接近尾聲了。對你們，我有最后一個希望，也是我21歲時就有的。畢業那天坐在我身邊的朋友現在是我終身的摯交，他們是我孩子的教父母，是在我遇到麻煩時愿意伸出援手，在我用他們的名字給哈利波特中的 “食死徒”起名而不會起訴我的朋友。我們在畢業典禮時坐在了一起，因為我們關系親密，擁有共同的永遠無法再來的經歷，當然，也因為假想要是我們中的任何人競選首相，那照片將是極為寶貴的關系證明。

所以今天我可以給你們的，沒有比擁有知己更好的祝福了。明天，我希望即使你們不記得我說的任何一個字，你們還能記得哲學家塞內加的一句至理明言。我當年沒有順著事業的階梯向上攀爬，轉而與他在古典文學的殿堂相遇，他的古老智慧給了我人生的啟迪：

生活就像故事一樣：不在乎長短，而在于質量，這才是最重要的。

我祝愿你們都有美好的生活。

非常感謝大家。

第四篇：JK羅琳哈佛大學演講

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 2008年J.K.羅琳在哈佛大學畢業典禮上的演講：失敗的好處和想象

Video of J K Rowling's Commencement Address, 力的重要性

“The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the

Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the

Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on Importance of Imagination Harvard University Commencement Address June 5th 2008.In this powerful, moving, yet also

funny speech Jo talks about her time working for J.K.Rowling

Amnesty International, her personal experiences Tercentenary Theatre, June 5, 2008 失敗的好處和想象力的重要性 with failure and the power of the imagination to 哈佛大學畢業典禮 allow us to empathize with others.J.K.羅琳

2008年6月5日

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers，members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates，福斯特主席，哈佛公司和監察委員會的各位成員，各位老師、家長、全體畢業生們：

The first thing I would like to say is “thank you.” Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight.A win-win situation!Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindors' reunion.首先請允許我說一聲謝謝。哈佛不僅給了我無上的榮譽，連日來為這個演講經受的恐懼和緊張，更令我減肥成功。這真是一個雙贏的局面?，F在我要做的就是深呼吸幾下，瞇著眼睛看看前面的大紅橫幅，安慰自己正在世界上最大的魔法學院聚會上。

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility;or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation.The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock.Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said.This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.發表畢業演說是一個巨大的責任，至少在我回憶自己當年的畢業典禮前是這么認為的。那天做演講的是英國著名的哲學家Baroness Mary Warnock，對她演講的回憶，對我寫今天的演講稿，產生了極大的幫助，因為我不記得她說過的任何一句話了。這個發現讓我釋然，讓我不再擔心我可能會無意中影響你放棄在商業，法律或政治上的大好前途，轉而醉心于成為一個快樂的魔法師。

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary

Warnock.Achievable goals-the first step to self-improvement.你們看，如果在若干年后你們還記得“快樂的魔法師”這個笑話，那就證明我已經超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可實現的目標——這是提高自我的第一步。

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today.I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.實際上，我為今天應該和大家談些什么絞盡了腦汁。我問自己什么是我希望早在畢業典禮上就該了解的，而從那時起到現在的21年間，我又得到了什么重要的啟示。

I have come up with two answers.On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure.And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.我想到了兩個答案。在這美好的一天，當我們一起慶祝你們取得學業成就的時刻，我希望告訴你們失敗有什么樣的益處；在你們即將邁向“現實生活”的道路之際，我還要褒揚想象力的重要性。

These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.這些似乎是不切實際或自相矛盾的選擇，但請先容我講完。Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become.Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.回顧21歲剛剛畢業時的自己，對于今天42歲的我來說，是一個稍微不太舒服的經歷。可以說，我人生的前一部分，一直掙扎在自己的雄心和身邊的人對我的期望之間。

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels.However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 2 was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是寫小說。不過，我的父母，他們都來自貧窮的背景，沒有任何一人上過大學，堅持認為我過度的想象力是一個令人驚訝的個人怪癖，根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者取得足夠的養老金。

I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but…

我現在明白反諷就像用卡通鐵砧去打擊你，但...They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree;I wanted to study English Literature.A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages.Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.他們希望我去拿個職業學位，而我想去攻讀英國文學。最后，達成了一個雙方都不甚滿意的妥協：我改學現代語言?？墒堑鹊礁改敢蛔唛_，我立刻放棄了德語而報名學習古典文學。

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics;they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day.Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.我不記得將這事告訴了父母，他們可能是在我畢業典禮那一天才發現的。我想，在全世界的所有專業中，他們也許認為，不會有比研究希臘神話更沒用的專業了，根本無法換來一間獨立寬敞的衛生間。

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view.There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction;the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty.They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression;it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.我想澄清一下：我不會因為父母的觀點，而責怪他們。埋怨父母給你指錯方向是有一個時間段的。當你成長到可以控制自我方向的時候，你就要自己承擔責任了。尤其是，我不會因為父母希望我不要過窮日子，而責怪他們。他們一直很貧窮，我后來也一度很窮，所以我很理解他們。貧窮并不是一種高貴的經歷，它帶來恐懼、壓力、有時還有絕望，它意味著許許多多的羞辱和艱辛?？孔约旱呐[

脫貧窮，確實可以引以自豪，但貧窮本身只有對傻瓜而言才是浪漫的。

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.我在你們這個年齡，最害怕的不是貧窮，而是失敗。

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.我在您們這么大時，明顯缺乏在大學學習的動力，我花了太久時間在咖啡吧寫故事，而在課堂的時間卻很少。我有一個通過考試的訣竅，并且數年間一直讓我在大學生活和同齡人中不落人后。

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak.Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.我不想愚蠢地假設，因為你們年輕、有天份，并且受過良好的教育，就從來沒有遇到困難或心碎的時刻。擁有才華和智慧，從來不會使人對命運的反復無常有所準備；我也不會假設大家坐在這里冷靜地滿足于自身的優越感。

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure.You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success.Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.相反，你們是哈佛畢業生的這個事實，意味著你們并不很了解失敗。你們也許極其渴望成功，所以非常害怕失敗。說實話，你們眼中的失敗，很可能就是普通人眼中的成功，畢竟你們在學業上已經達到很高的高度了。

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it.So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale.An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless.The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.最終，我們所有人都必須自己決定什么算作失敗，但如果你愿意，世界是相當渴望給你一套標準的。所以我承認命運的公平，從任何傳統的標準看，在我畢業僅僅七年后的日子里，我的失敗達到了史詩般空前的規模：短命的婚姻閃電般地破裂，我又失業成了一個艱難的單身母親。除了流浪漢，我是當代英國最窮的人之一，真的一無所有。當

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 3 年父母和我自己對未來的擔憂，現在都變成了現實。按照慣常的標準來看，我也是我所知道的最失敗的人。

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution.I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.現在，我不打算站在這里告訴你們，失敗是有趣的。那段日子是我生命中的黑暗歲月，我不知道它是否代表童話故事里需要歷經的磨難，更不知道自己還要在黑暗中走多久。很長一段時間里，前面留給我的只是希望，而不是現實。So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential.I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work

that mattered to me.Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea.And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.那么為什么我要談論失敗的好處呢？因為失敗意味著剝離掉那些不必要的東西。我因此不再偽裝自己、遠離自我，而重新開始把所有精力放在對我最重要的事情上。如果不是沒有在其他領域成功過，我可能就不會找到，在一個我確信真正屬于的舞臺上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因為最害怕的雖然已經發生了，但我還活著，我仍然有一個我深愛的女兒，我還有一個舊打字機和一個很大的想法。所以困境的谷底，成為我重建生活的堅實基礎。

第五篇：JK羅琳08哈佛演講

JK羅琳2008哈佛大學畢業典禮上的演講。

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates，The first thing I would like to say is 'thank you.' Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I've experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight.A win-win situation!Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world's best-educated Harry Potter convention.Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility;or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation.The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock.Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said.This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today.I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.I have come up with two answers.On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure.And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become.Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels.However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree;I wanted to study English Literature.A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages.Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics;they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day.Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view.There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction;the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty.They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression;it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak.Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure.You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success.Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it.So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale.An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless.The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution.I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential.I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea.And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable.It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations.Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way.I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected;I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.so Given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement.Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many p eople of my age and older who confuse the two.Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so.Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense.Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation.In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books.This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs.Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them.I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends.I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries.I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government.Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland.He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him.He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child.I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since.The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her.She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed.Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power.I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have.The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners.Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet.My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced.They can think themselves into other people's minds, imagine themselves into other people's places.Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral.One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all.They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are.They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages;they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally;they can refuse to know.I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do.Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors.I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters.They are often more afraid.What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters.For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives.It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing.But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people's lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities.Even your nationality sets you apart.The great majority of you belong to the world's only remaining superpower.The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders.That is your privilege, and your burden.If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice;if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless;if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better.We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.I am nearly finished.I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21.The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life.They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've used their names for Death Eaters.At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships.And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.I wish you all very good lives.Thank you very much.