J.K. Rowling Harvard University 2008 Commencement Speech
Title: The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination
President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and graduates:
Thank you for this extraordinary honor. Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility. Reflecting on my own graduation, I can’t remember a single word the speaker said, which allows me to proceed without fear of influencing you to abandon your careers for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard. Achievable goals are the first step towards personal improvement.
I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned since then.
I have come up with two answers: the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination.
The Value of Failure
Embracing Failure:
- 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 allāin which case, you fail by default.
Learning from Failure:
- Failure gave me an inner security that passing exams never did.
- 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.
- Emerging wiser and stronger from setbacks means you are secure in your ability to survive.
Personal Anecdote:
- Seven years after graduation, 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 possible without being homeless.
- By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
The Power of Imagination
Imagination’s Role Beyond Creativity:
- Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation.
- It is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.
Using Imagination to Affect Change:
- We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.
In Conclusion:
- Failure is inevitable but valuable.
- Imagination is crucial for empathy and transformation.
- Use your advantages to help others and create positive change.
Thank you, and congratulations to the Class of 2008.
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