Cool Stuff By Cool People: J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, gave a commencement address at Harvard University back in 2008 not long after the release of the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

 

The speech is titled ‘Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination’. It is compelling, amusing and deeply honest. Her words were intended for soon-to-be graduates, but they are entirely relevant to all of us.

 

“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.”

 

Rowling has spoken at length about her experiences before the success of Harry Potter. She has lived with depression and desperation, saying she has been close to suicide in the past. However, as she speaks to these young students about their futures, she says that “what I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure”. To fail is to learn and we will all fail at various points of our lives.

 

“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.”

 

Soon, the speech will be published in an illustrated book by Little, Brown Book Group.