第一篇：見習報告 羅琳

實習報 告

實習名稱

系別

年級專業

學生姓名

指導老師

教育見習外語系羅琳（1140501281）

邵陽學院

2014年5月17日

一、實習時間：2014年下學期第十三周二、實習地點：邵陽學院李子園校區和邵陽二中

三、實習單位：邵陽學院

四、實習過程

本次的教育見習一共有五天，每一天老師都安排不同的任務。第一天，老師組織我們去報告廳觀摩、研討一節中學英語優質課視頻，然后老師做出總結，探討這節課的優缺點，還有我們應該注意的問題。第二天，老師組織我們分班熟悉各種課型的教學方法，尤其是閱讀、聽力教學。第三天，我們聽了優秀老師的學術報告，用他們自身的經驗來談論教學問題，教學方法。第四天，老師組織我們觀摩中學英語課堂教學現場，然后進行總結，評判；然后同學進行分班交叉模擬教學試講，最后老師進行點評。第五天，老師組織我們進行模擬教學，評課；最后老師們紛紛進行教育見習總結。

五、實習內容

1.高中英語優質課視頻觀摩與研討

見習第一天，我們在指導老師的組織和帶領下，在我們的報告廳觀摩了一個優質教學示范課視頻。此次課是一節聽力課，課堂上老師采用了全英語教學，并且運用了多媒體技術輔助教學，教學方式是先循序漸進地聽錄音材料，聽完分小組配合并模擬語境用英文表達，在課堂上授課老師很注重同學們的情感交流，整個教學過程中，授課老師通過眼神和動作對學生的回答和思考進行鼓勵和引導，同時也向學生傳遞自己的教學思想，讓學生充分感受到老師的教學心情和課堂氛圍，帶動學生積極地投入到思考和回答問題的過程中。這次觀摩的目的在于讓我們了解優秀教師如何開展、組織課堂教學以及教學策略的運用等知識。通過觀看與討論讓我們了解到了上好一堂課的全部流程，以及怎樣才能上好一堂課。

2.熟悉各種課型的教學方法

見習的第二天，我們分班熟悉各種課型的教學方法，特別是閱讀教學和聽力教學，為我們后半期的見習工作做好準備工作。只有熟悉了各種類型的教學方法，才能將其利用到實際課堂，真正的做到理論與實踐相結合，才能更好地駕馭課堂才能真正的上好一堂正式的中學英語課。

3.中學英語課堂教學現場觀摩

我們此次中學英語課堂教學現場觀摩的地點是邵陽市二中，我們在指導老師的組織和帶領下，到市二中實地聽了一堂難得的高中英語寫作課，主題是How to learn

English well? 讓我切身體會了到英語教學方法的多樣性。課堂上，老師不再使用傳統的滿堂灌的教學思路，而是利用豐富的教學經驗和課堂駕馭能力，結合聽說讀寫譯的教學方法循循誘導，引導學生參與到教學活動中，充分調動學生的積極性，使課堂充滿活力。

4．高中英語優秀教師講座

很有幸的是，為了我們這次的見習，學校還邀請省級優秀教師老師給我們就有關高中英語教學做一個全面的講座。老師跟我們分享了他自身的一些人生經歷和他從教二十幾年來的教學經驗。時還給了我們所有同學在教學方面的忠告和建議，告訴我們如果想要從事教育工作，就必須要用心、有作為，必須要打心底里熱愛這份職業，熱愛所有的學生，用我們所有的熱情和激情投入到里面去。還給我們總結了當一個好老師必備的能力，一是要有扎實的基本功，二是靈活處理教材的能力。他強調教學方法應該是教無定法，要靈活的對待各種層次的學生。整個一個講座聽下來，讓我們所有的人都受益匪淺。

5.學生分班實施模擬教學

后面兩天的見習是老師讓我們分班模擬教學，目的在于檢測我們能否將所學的教學法的理論知識以及教育見習中獲得的知識運用到自身的教學中。兩位同學對new

words做了試講，每個同學利用30分鐘來做一堂簡單的試講，剩余的時間交給同學們以及指導老師點評。總的來說幾位同學的試講都很不錯，基本上都按照教學步驟一步步完成，上課內容也很精彩豐富，同時課堂也很活躍。當然，其中也存在一定的不足之處，同學和指導老師也一一對各位同學的試講做出了點評，肯定了其中做的好的地方也對不足之處提出建議，讓同學們能夠更好地提高和完善自我。

六、實習收獲與心得體會

經過五天的短暫見習，我覺得自己受益匪淺。讓我們學到了很多的教學方法，不光是理論方面的，更有實踐方面的。讓我們從平時簡單的理論教學跳入到真實的課堂，給我們提供了把理論與實踐相結合的機會，也給了我們一個展示自我的舞臺。在見習過程中，我深深的感受到理論知識與實際教學中還是有一段差距的。這就需要我們不斷地去積累經驗，用實踐這個武器去裝備完善自我。另外，我還覺得聽課這個環節對于教學經

驗的積累起到很大的作用，所以我們應該多去中學課堂聽課，感受真實的中學教學課堂。通過教育見習，為我們下學期的教育實習打好了一定的基礎。一周的教育見習時間很短促，但作為見習生，我對中學教育有了更加深入明確的認識。從教學實踐方面讓我體會到應該如何成為一個合格的教師，以后的學習也有了明確的努力方向。

七、存在的不足與缺點

在這次短暫的英語教育見習過程中，我發現了自己很多問題。課本學到的教學方法與技巧，畢竟是死知識，而要把死知識變活，就需要更多的鍛煉。在見習過程中，我發現我的現場掌控能力不是很強，對教材如何處理也手足無措，最缺乏的自信。我相信這次的見習會為下個學期的實習打下堅實的基礎，為以后的教育生涯做好鋪墊，爭取在未來做一名優秀的老師。

第二篇：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。現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。靠自己的努力擺脫貧窮，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。

第三篇：羅琳哈佛演講中英文

J·K·羅琳哈佛畢業演講重現

今年6月5日是哈佛大學的畢業典禮，請來的演講嘉賓是《哈利波特》的作者J.K.羅琳女士。

她的演講題目是《失敗的好處和想象的重要性》（The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination）。我讀了一遍講稿，覺得很好，很感染人。

她幾乎沒有談到哈里波特，而是說了年輕時的一些經歷。雖然J·K·羅琳現在很有錢，是英國僅次于女皇的最富有的女人，但是她曾經有一段非常艱辛的日子，30歲了，還差點流落街頭。她主要談的是，自己從這段經歷中學到的東西。

去年的演講嘉賓是比爾·蓋茨，我翻譯了他的演講，影響挺大。今年，我只翻譯了一部分，有興趣的朋友可以在網上找到全部原文和視頻。

她首先回憶了自己大學畢業的情景：

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.當時，我只想去寫小說。但是，我的父母出身貧寒，沒有受過大學教育。他們認為，我那些不安分的想象力只是一種怪癖，根本不能用來還房貸，或者掙來養老金。

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.他們希望我再去讀個專業學位，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：我改學外語。可是等到父母一走開，我立刻報名學習古典文學。

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 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的寬敞衛生間。

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view....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.我要申明，我并不責怪父母。……他們只是希望我不要過窮日子，我不能批評他們。他們自己很窮，我后來一度也很窮，所以我很理解他們，貧窮是一種悲慘的經歷。它帶來恐懼、壓力、有時還有抑郁。它意味著許許多多的羞辱和艱辛。靠自己的努力擺脫貧窮，確實讓人自豪，但是只有傻瓜才會將貧窮本身浪漫化。

接著，她談到了自己那些最悲慘的日子：

A mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale.我畢業后只過了7年，就失敗得一塌糊涂。

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.短命的婚姻閃電般地破裂，我還失業了，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。我父母對我的擔憂，我對自己的擔憂，都變成了現實。用平常人的標準，我是我所知道的最失敗的人。

That period of my life was a dark one.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.那段日子是我生命中的黑暗歲月。我不知道還要在黑暗中走多久，很長一段時間中，我有的只是希望，而不是現實。

但是，J.K.羅琳認為，沒有那段日子的失敗，就不會有后來的她。

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.為什么我說失敗是有好處的？因為失敗將那些非本質的東西都剝離了。我不再偽裝自己，我找到了真正的我，我將自己所有的精力，投入完成對我最重要的唯一一項工作。

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.要是我以前在其他地方成功了，那么我也許永遠不會有這樣的決心，投身于這個我自信真正屬于我的領域。

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.我自由了，因為我最大的恐懼已經成為現實，而我卻還依然活著，依然有一個深愛著的女兒，我還有一臺舊打字機和一個大大的夢想。我生命中最低的低點，成為我重建生活的堅實基礎。

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.失敗使我的內心產生一種安全感，以前通過考試也沒有的安全感。失敗讓我看清自己，以前我從沒認識到自己是這樣的。我發現，我比自己以為的，有更強的意志和決心。我還發現，我有一些比寶石更珍貴的朋友。

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.只有到逆境來臨的那一天，你才會真正了解你自己，了解你結識的人。這種了解是真正的財富，雖然是用痛苦換來的，但是它比我以前得到的任何證書都有用。

在演說的下半部分，她還談了畢業后在大*赦*國*際（Amnesty International）倫敦總部的第一份工作。這部分內容也很精彩，不過我就不翻譯了，大家可以去看原文。

三、我要重點談的，是演說的結尾部分。

一般來說，在演講結束時，嘉賓將對畢業生提出期望。我們可以看到，在這種場合，幾乎所有嘉賓，都沒有說―祝愿同學們取得個人成功‖，而是說―希望同學們努力去減輕人類的苦難‖。

比爾·蓋茨去年說：

Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty … the prevalence of world hunger … the scarcity of clean water …the girls kept out of school … the children who die from diseases we can cure?

哈佛是否鼓勵她的老師去研究解決世界上最嚴重的不平等？哈佛的學生是否從全球那些極

端的貧窮中學到了什么……世界性的饑荒……清潔的水資源的缺乏……無法上學的女童……死于非惡性疾病的兒童……哈佛的學生有沒有從中學到東西？

Should the world's most privileged people learn about the lives of the world's least privileged?

那些世界上過著最優越生活的人們，有沒有從那些最困難的人們身上學到東西？

These are not rhetorical questions – you will answer with your policies.這些問題并非語言上的修辭。你必須用自己的行動來回答它們。

When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given – in talent, privilege, and opportunity – there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us.想一想吧，我們在這個院子里的這些人，被給予過什么——天賦、特權、機遇——那么可以這樣說，全世界的人們幾乎有無限的權力，期待我們做出貢獻。

J.K.羅琳今年說：

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.你們是哈佛畢業生的這個事實，說明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很成功了。

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.…… That is your privilege, and your burden.但是，所有各位哈佛大學2008屆畢業生，你們對其他人的生活了解多少？你們的智慧、你們的能力、你們所受的教育，給了你們獨一無二的優勢，也給了你們獨一無二的責任。……你們的優勢就是你們的責任。

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.你們要用自己的地位和影響，為那些被忽略的人們說話；你們不僅要看到那些有權有勢者，也要看到那些無權無勢者；你們要學會設想，那些條件不如你們的人們是如何生活的；那樣的話，不僅你們的親人們將為你們感到自豪，而且千千萬萬的人們將因為你們的幫助而生活得更好。

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.我們不需要改變世界的魔法，我們自己的體內就有這樣的力量：那就是我們一直在夢想，讓這個世界變得更美好。

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。現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。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。

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。靠自己的努力擺

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.