J.K. Rowling's Commencement Address at Harvard University

Introduction

• Harvard transformed into Hogwarts Square for the release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
• Emphasized the success of J.K. Rowling as an author and philanthropist.
• Noted her contributions to literature and social causes.

Opening Remarks

• J.K. Rowling expresses gratitude for the honor of speaking at Harvard.
• Relates her own graduation experience and the forgettable nature of commencement speeches.

Themes

1. The Benefits of Failure

   • Describes personal failures: short-lived marriage, joblessness, poverty.
   • Emphasizes that failure is a necessary part of life to strip away the inessential.
   • Failure provided her with inner security beyond academic success.
   • Encourages embracing failure to discover personal strengths and resilience.

2. The Crucial Importance of Imagination

   • Imagination as a tool for empathy and innovation.
   • Experience at Amnesty International highlighted human suffering and generosity.
   • Empathy can lead to collective action and change.
   • Warns against the dangers of not exercising imagination.

Personal Reflections

• Emphasizes the transition from judging success by conventional standards to personal fulfillment.
• Encourages graduates to define their own success and failure.

Lessons from Classics

• Reference to Plutarch: "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality."
• The responsibility of Harvard graduates to use their education and status to effect change.
• Encourages graduates to use their influence to help those less fortunate.

Conclusion

• Wishes the graduates lifelong friendships and fulfillment.
• Quotes Seneca: "Not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters."
• Ends with a wish for the graduates to have good lives.