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(duì)此我深表遺憾。可這又算什么理由，竟能阻礙你一路追逐夢(mèng)想的實(shí)現(xiàn)！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(guò)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(yè)生們的金玉良言，你便能學(xué)到她的人生智慧。這些言簡(jiǎn)意賅的道理將使你不再為人生夢(mèng)想而不斷找借口。請(qǐng)勇敢往下讀吧。最后，你將再也不會(huì)找任何借口任由各種夢(mèng)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(wàn)文豪。你是否也準(zhǔn)備開(kāi)啟自己的奇幻人生了呢？下面是羅琳的人生哲學(xué)，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(jiān)實(shí)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(gè)沒(méi)有工作的單身母親，除了還不至于無(wú)家可歸外，當(dāng)時(shí)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(shí)此刻境遇如何，你都可以從低谷開(kāi)始，為自己的夢(mèng)想和目標(biāo)夯實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。2.Failure gave me an inner security that I have never had by passing examinations.失敗給了我一種內(nèi)心安全感，這是我通過(guò)考試都不曾有過(guò)的感覺(jué)。

Does inner security comes from a job, money, getting an A? The perfect spouse or relationship? 內(nèi)心安全感源于工作、金錢(qián)還是成績(jī)得A？抑或完美的伴侶或人際關(guān)系？ Not according to Jo.Her inner security came from failure.至少羅琳不是如此。她的內(nèi)心安全感來(lái)自于失敗。Failure meant the stripping away of the inessential.失敗意味著剝離無(wú)關(guān)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(wú)關(guān)緊要的？剩下的又會(huì)是什么？剩下的才是真正重要的，懷著內(nèi)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(wú)知的人才會(huì)將貧窮浪漫化。貧窮意味著數(shù)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(yǎng)聯(lián)系在一起，或者認(rèn)為在饑餓寒冷中痛苦掙扎、任憑本領(lǐng)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(duì)此并不認(rèn)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(zé)父母希望我永遠(yuǎn)都不要經(jīng)歷貧窮。他們一直活在貧窮之中，我自己也是。所以我非常認(rèn)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(xiàn)在你應(yīng)該將財(cái)富浪漫化，期待為世界貢獻(xiàn)自己的價(jià)值，同時(shí)能獲得回報(bào)，銀行里有點(diǎn)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(huì)使你免遭命運(yùn)無(wú)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(xué)文憑，自認(rèn)為很聰明，是吧?那也無(wú)可厚非。但在命運(yùn)這里，羅琳認(rèn)為“你的資歷并不能構(gòu)成你的人生”。毫無(wú)自我評(píng)判的余地——生活對(duì)所有人都是自行其道。所以，請(qǐng)量力而行地爭(zhēng)取渴望的東西。請(qǐng)堅(jiān)持再堅(jiān)持，千萬(wàn)不要放棄！

5.The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.當(dāng)你成熟到足夠自己把握方向盤(pán)的時(shí)候，責(zé)任也隨之而來(lái)。

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(mèng)想是什么、該如何實(shí)現(xiàn)，卻又去埋怨別人的話(huà)，就請(qǐng)握好方向盤(pán)吧——你已經(jīng)到了可以自己駕駛的年紀(jì)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(huì)去怪父母……埋怨父母錯(cuò)了方向也是有期限的。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的毅力和自律遠(yuǎn)比想象的強(qiáng)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(kāi)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(lái)改變世界，因?yàn)槲覀兊膬?nèi)心就已經(jīng)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(rèn)為你自身就擁有神奇力量，那你確實(shí)就有。請(qǐng)相信你的力量、發(fā)揮出你的力量，去開(kāi)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(gè)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(lèi)獨(dú)有的想象能力，同時(shí)也是所有發(fā)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(huì)到自身不曾經(jīng)歷的他人經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

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(qǐng)盡情做夢(mèng)吧。讓想象力自由奔放，去想象更美好的生活、更和諧的社會(huì)。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(shí)寫(xiě)完了第一個(gè)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(shí)你在干什么？你喜歡過(guò)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(lái)，可以到實(shí)體玩具店看看自己喜歡什么，然后玩一玩?；蛟S你就能發(fā)現(xiàn)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(kāi)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(duì)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(shí)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(huì)假裝成什么樣的人？你陷在怎樣的圍城里？趕緊出來(lái)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(yíng)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(ài)、做你所想，自尊便會(huì)自然而來(lái)。

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(cuò)，除非你過(guò)得極其謹(jǐn)慎、仿佛不曾活過(guò)一樣，可這樣你其實(shí)也還是犯了錯(cuò)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(xiàn)場(chǎng)，看別人你爭(zhēng)我斗。

There was a point where I really felt I had ‘penniless divorcee lone parent’ tattooed on my head.有一段時(shí)間，我真的覺(jué)得自己腦門(mén)上刻著‘身無(wú)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(jué)得你腦門(mén)上刻著什么字？年紀(jì)太大為時(shí)已晚？年輕青澀毫無(wú)經(jīng)驗(yàn)？太窮？沒(méi)膽量？ Time to pour the concrete and lay the foundation for greater things.是時(shí)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(huì)考慮書(shū)的讀者是誰(shuí)?！?如果我們?cè)试S，真的只要我們?cè)试S，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(fù)和身邊人對(duì)我的期許?！?/p>

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(lái)創(chuàng)造你的職業(yè)生涯。如果能做好有用之事，再憑借自身天賦，你也會(huì)像羅琳那樣成功。

So there you have it.Life on JK Rowling’s terms.這就是你能學(xué)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?yàn)樽畲蟮目謶忠殉蔀楝F(xiàn)實(shí)。我還活著，還有一個(gè)深?lèi)?ài)著的女兒；我有一臺(tái)舊打字機(jī)，并且有一個(gè)很棒的想法?！?開(kāi)始行動(dòng)，給自己自由吧！你的失敗也可能是將來(lái)成功的墊腳石。這輩子需要由你自己來(lái)過(guò)。所以，請(qǐng)做自己喜歡和渴望的事情——這才是魔法魅力所在。請(qǐng)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(qǐng)點(diǎn)亮內(nèi)心希望，發(fā)揮你內(nèi)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(qǐng)領(lǐng)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(duì)此我深表遺憾。可這又算什么理由，竟能阻礙你一路追逐夢(mèng)想的實(shí)現(xiàn)!

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(guò)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(yè)生們的金玉良言，你便能學(xué)到她的人生智慧。這些言簡(jiǎn)意賅的道理將使你不再為人生夢(mèng)想而不斷找借口。請(qǐng)勇敢往下讀吧。最后，你將再也不會(huì)找任何借口任由各種夢(mèng)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(wàn)文豪。你是否也準(zhǔn)備開(kāi)啟自己的奇幻人生了呢?下面是羅琳的人生哲學(xué)，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(jiān)實(shí)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(gè)沒(méi)有工作的單身母親，除了還不至于無(wú)家可歸外，當(dāng)時(shí)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(shí)此刻境遇如何，你都可以從低谷開(kāi)始，為自己的夢(mèng)想和目標(biāo)夯實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。

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

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

內(nèi)心安全感源于工作、金錢(qián)還是成績(jī)得A?抑或完美的伴侶或人際關(guān)系?

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

Failure meant the stripping away of the inessential.失敗意味著剝離無(wú)關(guān)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(wú)關(guān)緊要的?剩下的又會(huì)是什么?剩下的才是真正重要的，懷著內(nèi)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(wú)知的人才會(huì)將貧窮浪漫化。貧窮意味著數(shù)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(yǎng)聯(lián)系在一起，或者認(rèn)為在饑餓寒冷中痛苦掙扎、任憑本領(lǐng)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(duì)此并不認(rèn)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(zé)父母希望我永遠(yuǎn)都不要經(jīng)歷貧窮。他們一直活在貧窮之中，我自己也是。所以我非常認(rèn)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(xiàn)在你應(yīng)該將財(cái)富浪漫化，期待為世界貢獻(xiàn)自己的價(jià)值，同時(shí)能獲得回報(bào)，銀行里有點(diǎn)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(huì)使你免遭命運(yùn)無(wú)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(xué)文憑，自認(rèn)為很聰明，是吧?那也無(wú)可厚非。但在命運(yùn)這里，羅琳認(rèn)為你的資歷并不能構(gòu)成你的人生。毫無(wú)自我評(píng)判的余地——生活對(duì)所有人都是自行其道。所以，請(qǐng)量力而行地爭(zhēng)取渴望的東西。請(qǐng)堅(jiān)持再堅(jiān)持，千萬(wàn)不要放棄!

5.The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.當(dāng)你成熟到足夠自己把握方向盤(pán)的時(shí)候，責(zé)任也隨之而來(lái)。

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(mèng)想是什么、該如何實(shí)現(xiàn)，卻又去埋怨別人的話(huà)，就請(qǐng)握好方向盤(pán)吧——你已經(jīng)到了可以自己駕駛的年紀(jì)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(huì)去怪父母埋怨父母錯(cuò)了方向也是有期限的。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的毅力和自律遠(yuǎn)比想象的強(qiáng)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(kāi)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(lái)改變世界，因?yàn)槲覀兊膬?nèi)心就已經(jīng)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(rèn)為你自身就擁有神奇力量，那你確實(shí)就有。

第三篇：JK羅琳演講稿

J·K·羅琳，英國(guó)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(gè)單身母親，剛開(kāi)始哈利叢書(shū)的創(chuàng)作時(shí)。羅琳母女的生活極其艱辛。她的第一本書(shū)《哈利·波特與魔法石》前后共寫(xiě)了5年，羅琳因?yàn)樽约业奈葑佑中∮掷?，時(shí)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(shū)稿均遭到拒絕。不過(guò)，她的努力終于得到了回報(bào)。在一所小印刷商Bloomsbury接下印刷權(quán)后，一出版便備受矚目，好評(píng)如潮。她的生活發(fā)生天翻地覆地變化。她被稱(chēng)為“哈利·波特之母”，以天才的想象力孕育了風(fēng)靡全球的小魔法師哈利·波特，她也從一個(gè)貧困潦倒、默默無(wú)聞的“灰姑娘”，一躍成為盡享尊榮、財(cái)產(chǎn)超過(guò)英國(guó)女王的作家首富。

JK羅琳2008哈佛畢業(yè)典禮演講：不要害怕失敗

福斯特主席，哈佛公司和監(jiān)察委員會(huì)的各位成員，各位老師、家長(zhǎng)、全體畢業(yè)生們：

首先請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說(shuō)一聲謝謝。哈佛不僅給了我無(wú)上的榮譽(yù)，連日來(lái)為這個(gè)演講經(jīng)受的恐懼和緊張，更令我減肥成功。這真是一個(gè)雙贏(yíng)的局面。現(xiàn)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(huì)上。

發(fā)表畢業(yè)演說(shuō)是一個(gè)巨大的責(zé)任，至少在我回憶自己當(dāng)年的畢業(yè)典禮前是這么認(rèn)為的。那天做演講的是英國(guó)著名的哲學(xué)家 Baroness Mary Warnock，對(duì)她演講的回憶，對(duì)我寫(xiě)今天的演講稿，產(chǎn)生了極大的幫助，因?yàn)槲也挥浀盟f(shuō)過(guò)的任何一句話(huà)了。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我釋然，讓我不再擔(dān)心我可能會(huì)無(wú)意中影響你放棄在商業(yè)，法律或政治上的大好前途，轉(zhuǎn)而醉心于成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)的魔法師（gay有快樂(lè)和同性戀的意思）。

你們看，如果在若干年后你們還記得“快樂(lè)的魔法師”這個(gè)笑話(huà)，那就證明我已經(jīng)超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)——這是提高自我的第一步。

實(shí)際上，我為今天應(yīng)該和大家談些什么絞盡了腦汁。我問(wèn)自己什么是我希望早在畢業(yè)典禮上就該了解的，而從那時(shí)起到現(xiàn)在的 21年間，我又得到了什么重要的啟示。

我想到了兩個(gè)答案。在這美好的一天，當(dāng)我們一起慶祝你們?nèi)〉脤W(xué)業(yè)成就的時(shí)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(xiàn)實(shí)生活”的道路之際，我還要褒揚(yáng)想象力的重要性。

這些似乎是不切實(shí)際或自相矛盾的選擇，但請(qǐng)先容我講完。

回顧21歲剛剛畢業(yè)時(shí)的自己，對(duì)于今天42歲的我來(lái)說(shuō)，是一個(gè)稍微不太舒服的經(jīng)歷?？梢哉f(shuō)，我人生的前一部分，一直掙扎在自己的雄心和身邊的人對(duì)我的期望之間。

我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是寫(xiě)小說(shuō)。不過(guò)，我的父母，他們都來(lái)自貧窮的背景，沒(méi)有任何一人上過(guò)大學(xué)，堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為我過(guò)度的想象力是一個(gè)令人驚訝的個(gè)人怪癖，根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者取得足夠的養(yǎng)老金。

我現(xiàn)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(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位，而我想去攻讀英國(guó)文學(xué)。最后，達(dá)成了一個(gè)雙方都不甚滿(mǎn)意的妥協(xié)：我改學(xué)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言。可是等到父母一走開(kāi)，我立刻放棄了德語(yǔ)而報(bào)名學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)。

我不記得將這事告訴了父母，他們可能是在我畢業(yè)典禮那一天才發(fā)現(xiàn)的。我想，在全世界的所有專(zhuān)業(yè)中，他們也許認(rèn)為，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話(huà)更沒(méi)用的專(zhuān)業(yè)了，根本無(wú)法換來(lái)一間獨(dú)立寬敞的衛(wèi)生間。

我想澄清一下：我不會(huì)因?yàn)楦改傅挠^(guān)點(diǎn)，而責(zé)怪他們。埋怨父母給你指錯(cuò)方向是有一個(gè)時(shí)間段的。當(dāng)你成長(zhǎng)到可以控制自我方向的時(shí)候，你就要自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任了。尤其是，我不會(huì)因?yàn)楦改赶Ｍ也灰^(guò)窮日子，而責(zé)怪他們。他們一直很貧窮，我后來(lái)也一度很窮，所以我很理解他們。貧窮并不是一種高貴的經(jīng)歷，它帶來(lái)恐懼、壓力、有時(shí)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(shí)可以引以自豪，但貧窮本身只有對(duì)傻瓜而言才是浪漫的。

我在你們這個(gè)年齡，最害怕的不是貧窮，而是失敗。

我在您們這么大時(shí)，明顯缺乏在大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力，我花了太久時(shí)間在咖啡吧寫(xiě)故事，而在課堂的時(shí)間卻很少。我有一個(gè)通過(guò)考試的訣竅，并且數(shù)年間一直讓我在大學(xué)生活和同齡人中不落人后。

我不想愚蠢地假設(shè)，因?yàn)槟銈兡贻p、有天份，并且受過(guò)良好的教育，就從來(lái)沒(méi)有遇到困難或心碎的時(shí)刻。擁有才華和智慧，從來(lái)不會(huì)使人對(duì)命運(yùn)的反復(fù)無(wú)常有所準(zhǔn)備；我也不會(huì)假設(shè)大家坐在這里冷靜地滿(mǎn)足于自身的優(yōu)越感。

相反，你們是哈佛畢業(yè)生的這個(gè)事實(shí)，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(shuō)實(shí)話(huà)，你們眼中的失敗，很可能就是普通人眼中的成功，畢竟你們?cè)趯W(xué)業(yè)上已經(jīng)達(dá)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(dāng)渴望給你一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的。所以我想很公平的講，從任何傳統(tǒng)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)看，在我畢業(yè)僅僅七年后的日子里，我的失敗達(dá)到了史詩(shī)般空前的規(guī)模：短命的婚姻閃電般地破裂，我又失業(yè)成了一個(gè)艱難的單身母親。除了流浪漢，我是當(dāng)代英國(guó)最窮的人之一，真的一無(wú)所有。當(dāng)年父母和我自己對(duì)未來(lái)的擔(dān)憂(yōu)，現(xiàn)在都變成了現(xiàn)實(shí)。按照慣常的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)看，我也是我所知道的最失敗的人。

現(xiàn)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(huà)故事里需要?dú)v經(jīng)的磨難，更不知道自己還要在黑暗中走多久。很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間里，前面留給我的只是希望，而不是現(xiàn)實(shí)。

那么為什么我要談?wù)撌〉暮锰幠兀恳驗(yàn)槭∫馕吨鴦冸x掉那些不必要的東西。我因此不再偽裝自己、遠(yuǎn)離自我，而重新開(kāi)始把所有精力放在對(duì)我最重要的事情上。如果不是沒(méi)有在其他領(lǐng)域成功過(guò)，我可能就不會(huì)找到，在一個(gè)我確信真正屬于的舞臺(tái)上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因?yàn)樽詈ε碌碾m然已經(jīng)發(fā)生了，但我還活著，我仍然有一個(gè)我深?lèi)?ài)的女兒，我還有一個(gè)舊打字機(jī)和一個(gè)很大的想法。所以困境的谷底，成為我重建生活的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。

你們可能永遠(yuǎn)沒(méi)有達(dá)到我經(jīng)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(méi)有一點(diǎn)失敗，除非你生活的萬(wàn)般小心，而那也意味著你沒(méi)有真正在生活了。無(wú)論怎樣，有些失敗還是注定地要發(fā)生。

失敗使我的內(nèi)心產(chǎn)生一種安全感，這是我從考試中沒(méi)有得到過(guò)的。失敗讓我看清自己，這也是我通過(guò)其他方式無(wú)法體會(huì)的。我發(fā)現(xiàn)，我比自己認(rèn)為的，要有更強(qiáng)的意志和決心。我還發(fā)現(xiàn)，我擁有比寶石更加珍貴的朋友。

從挫折中獲得智慧、變得堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，意味著你比以往任何時(shí)候都更有能力生存。只有在逆境來(lái)臨的時(shí)候，你才會(huì)真正認(rèn)識(shí)你自己，了解身邊的人。這種了解是真正的財(cái)富，雖然是用痛苦換來(lái)的，但比我以前得到的任何資格證書(shū)都有用。

如果給我一部時(shí)間機(jī)器，我會(huì)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(jī)單，你的資歷、簡(jiǎn)歷，都不是你的生活，雖然你會(huì)碰到很多與我同齡或更老一點(diǎn)的人今天依然還在混淆兩者。生活是艱辛的，復(fù)雜的，超出任何人的控制能力，而謙恭地了解這一點(diǎn)，將使你歷經(jīng)滄桑后能夠更好的生存。

對(duì)于第二個(gè)主題的選擇——想象力的重要性——你們可能會(huì)認(rèn)為是因?yàn)樗鼘?duì)我重建生活起到了幫助，但事實(shí)并非完全如此。雖然我愿誓死捍衛(wèi)睡前要給孩子講故事的價(jià)值觀(guān)，我對(duì)想象力的理解已經(jīng)有了更廣泛的含義。想象力不僅僅是人類(lèi)設(shè)想還不存在的事物這種獨(dú)特的能力，為所有發(fā)明和創(chuàng)新提供源泉，它還是人類(lèi)改造和揭露現(xiàn)實(shí)的能力，使我們同情自己不曾經(jīng)受的他人苦難。

其中一個(gè)影響最大的經(jīng)歷發(fā)生在我寫(xiě)哈利波特之前，為我隨后寫(xiě)書(shū)提供了很多想法。這些想法成形于我早期的工作經(jīng)歷，在20 多歲時(shí)，盡管我可以在午餐時(shí)間里悄悄寫(xiě)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(guó)際研究部門(mén)。

在我的小辦公室，我看到了人們匆匆寫(xiě)的信件，它們是從極權(quán)主義政權(quán)被偷送出來(lái)的。那些人冒著被監(jiān)禁的危險(xiǎn)，告知外面的世界他們那里正在發(fā)生的事情。我看到了那些無(wú)跡可尋的人的照片，它們是被那些絕望的家人和朋友送來(lái)的。我看過(guò)拷問(wèn)受害者的證詞和被害的照片。我打開(kāi)過(guò)手寫(xiě)的目擊證詞，描述綁架和強(qiáng)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(kāi)家園流離失所，或逃亡流放，因?yàn)樗麄兏矣趹岩烧?、?dú)立思考。來(lái)我們辦公室的訪(fǎng)客，包括那些前來(lái)提供信息，或想設(shè)法知道那些被迫留下的同志發(fā)生了什么事的人。

我將永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記一個(gè)非洲酷刑的受害者，一名當(dāng)時(shí)還沒(méi)有我大的年輕男子，他因在故鄉(xiāng)的經(jīng)歷而精神錯(cuò)亂。在攝像機(jī)前講述被殘暴地摧殘的時(shí)候，他顫抖失控。他比我高一英尺，卻看上去像一個(gè)脆弱的兒童。我被安排隨后護(hù)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(lái)生活幸福。

只要我活著，我還會(huì)記得，在一個(gè)空蕩蕩的的走廊，突然從背后的門(mén)里，傳來(lái)我從未聽(tīng)過(guò)的痛苦和恐懼的尖叫。門(mén)打開(kāi)了，調(diào)查員探出頭請(qǐng)求我，為坐在她旁邊的青年男子，調(diào)一杯熱飲料。她剛剛給他的消息是，為了報(bào)復(fù)他對(duì)國(guó)家政權(quán)的批評(píng)，他的母親已經(jīng)被捕并執(zhí)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(yùn)。生活在一個(gè)民選政府的國(guó)家，依法申述與公開(kāi)審理，是所有人的權(quán)利。

每一天，我都能看到更多有關(guān)惡人的證據(jù)，他們?yōu)榱双@得或維持權(quán)力，對(duì)自己的同胞犯下暴行。我開(kāi)始做噩夢(mèng)，真正意義上的噩夢(mèng)，全都和我所見(jiàn)所聞?dòng)嘘P(guān)。

同時(shí)在這里我也了解到更多關(guān)于人類(lèi)的善良，比我以前想象的要多很多。

大赦動(dòng)員成千上萬(wàn)沒(méi)有因?yàn)閭€(gè)人信仰而受到折磨或監(jiān)禁的人，去為那些遭受這種不幸的人奔走。人類(lèi)同理心的力量，引發(fā)集體行動(dòng)，拯救生命，解放囚犯。個(gè)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(shí)，也許永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)見(jiàn)面的人。我用自己微薄的力量參與了這一過(guò)程，也獲得了更大的啟發(fā)。

不同于在這個(gè)星球上任何其他的動(dòng)物，人類(lèi)可以學(xué)習(xí)和理解未曾經(jīng)歷過(guò)的東西。他們可以將心比心、設(shè)身處地的理解他人。

當(dāng)然，這種能力，就像在我虛構(gòu)的魔法世界里一樣，在道德上是中立的。一個(gè)人可能會(huì)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(lái)不愿花力氣去想想如果生在別處會(huì)怎樣。他們可以拒絕去聽(tīng)別人的尖叫，看一眼囚禁的籠子；他們可以封閉自己的內(nèi)心，只要痛苦不觸及個(gè)人，他們可以拒絕去了解。

我可能會(huì)受到誘惑，去嫉妒那樣生活的人。但我不認(rèn)為他們做的噩夢(mèng)會(huì)比我更少。選擇生活在狹窄的空間，可以導(dǎo)致不敢面對(duì)開(kāi)闊的視野，給自己帶來(lái)恐懼感。我認(rèn)為不愿展開(kāi)想像的人會(huì)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(huì)激活真正的怪獸。因?yàn)楸M管自己沒(méi)有犯下罪惡，我們卻通過(guò)冷漠與之勾結(jié)。

我18歲開(kāi)始從古典文學(xué)中汲取許多知識(shí)，其中之一當(dāng)時(shí)并不完全理解，那就是希臘作家普魯塔克所說(shuō)：我們內(nèi)心獲得的，將改變外在的現(xiàn)實(shí)。

那是一個(gè)驚人的論斷，在我們生活的每一天里被無(wú)數(shù)次證實(shí)。它指明我們與外部世界有無(wú)法脫離的聯(lián)系，我們以自身的存在接觸著他人的生命。

但是，哈佛大學(xué)的2008屆畢業(yè)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(dú)特的地位和責(zé)任。甚至你們的國(guó)籍也讓你們與眾不同，你們絕大部份人屬于這個(gè)世界上唯一的超級(jí)大國(guó)。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(lái)的壓力，具有超乎尋常的影響力。這是你們的特權(quán)，也是你們的責(zé)任。

如果你選擇利用自己的地位和影響，去為那些沒(méi)有發(fā)言權(quán)的人發(fā)出聲音；如果你選擇不僅與強(qiáng)者為伍，還會(huì)同情幫扶弱者；如果你會(huì)設(shè)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(wú)數(shù)因?yàn)槟愕膸椭淖兠\(yùn)的成千上萬(wàn)人的驕傲。我們不需要改變世界的魔法，我們自己的內(nèi)心就有這種力量：那就是我們一直在夢(mèng)想，讓這個(gè)世界變得更美好。

我的演講要接近尾聲了。對(duì)你們，我有最后一個(gè)希望，也是我21歲時(shí)就有的。畢業(yè)那天坐在我身邊的朋友現(xiàn)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(shí)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(huì)起訴我的朋友。我們?cè)诋厴I(yè)典禮時(shí)坐在了一起，因?yàn)槲覀冴P(guān)系親密，擁有共同的永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法再來(lái)的經(jīng)歷，當(dāng)然，也因?yàn)榧傧胍俏覀冎械娜魏稳烁?jìng)選首相，那照片將是極為寶貴的關(guān)系證明。

所以今天我可以給你們的，沒(méi)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(shuō)的任何一個(gè)字，你們還能記得哲學(xué)家塞內(nèi)加的一句至理明言。我當(dāng)年沒(méi)有順著事業(yè)的階梯向上攀爬，轉(zhuǎn)而與他在古典文學(xué)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(zhǎng)短，而在于質(zhì)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(xué)演講

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 2008年J.K.羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)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(xué)畢業(yè)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(jiān)察委員會(huì)的各位成員，各位老師、家長(zhǎng)、全體畢業(yè)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(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說(shuō)一聲謝謝。哈佛不僅給了我無(wú)上的榮譽(yù)，連日來(lái)為這個(gè)演講經(jīng)受的恐懼和緊張，更令我減肥成功。這真是一個(gè)雙贏(yíng)的局面?，F(xiàn)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(xué)院聚會(huì)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(fā)表畢業(yè)演說(shuō)是一個(gè)巨大的責(zé)任，至少在我回憶自己當(dāng)年的畢業(yè)典禮前是這么認(rèn)為的。那天做演講的是英國(guó)著名的哲學(xué)家Baroness Mary Warnock，對(duì)她演講的回憶，對(duì)我寫(xiě)今天的演講稿，產(chǎn)生了極大的幫助，因?yàn)槲也挥浀盟f(shuō)過(guò)的任何一句話(huà)了。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我釋然，讓我不再擔(dān)心我可能會(huì)無(wú)意中影響你放棄在商業(yè)，法律或政治上的大好前途，轉(zhuǎn)而醉心于成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)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(lè)的魔法師”這個(gè)笑話(huà)，那就證明我已經(jīng)超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)——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(shí)際上，我為今天應(yīng)該和大家談些什么絞盡了腦汁。我問(wèn)自己什么是我希望早在畢業(yè)典禮上就該了解的，而從那時(shí)起到現(xiàn)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(gè)答案。在這美好的一天，當(dāng)我們一起慶祝你們?nèi)〉脤W(xué)業(yè)成就的時(shí)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(xiàn)實(shí)生活”的道路之際，我還要褒揚(yáng)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(shí)際或自相矛盾的選擇，但請(qǐng)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(yè)時(shí)的自己，對(duì)于今天42歲的我來(lái)說(shuō)，是一個(gè)稍微不太舒服的經(jīng)歷?？梢哉f(shuō)，我人生的前一部分，一直掙扎在自己的雄心和身邊的人對(duì)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(xiě)小說(shuō)。不過(guò)，我的父母，他們都來(lái)自貧窮的背景，沒(méi)有任何一人上過(guò)大學(xué)，堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為我過(guò)度的想象力是一個(gè)令人驚訝的個(gè)人怪癖，根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者取得足夠的養(yǎng)老金。

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

我現(xiàn)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(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位，而我想去攻讀英國(guó)文學(xué)。最后，達(dá)成了一個(gè)雙方都不甚滿(mǎn)意的妥協(xié)：我改學(xué)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言。可是等到父母一走開(kāi)，我立刻放棄了德語(yǔ)而報(bào)名學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)。

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(yè)典禮那一天才發(fā)現(xiàn)的。我想，在全世界的所有專(zhuān)業(yè)中，他們也許認(rèn)為，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話(huà)更沒(méi)用的專(zhuān)業(yè)了，根本無(wú)法換來(lái)一間獨(dú)立寬敞的衛(wèi)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(huì)因?yàn)楦改傅挠^(guān)點(diǎn)，而責(zé)怪他們。埋怨父母給你指錯(cuò)方向是有一個(gè)時(shí)間段的。當(dāng)你成長(zhǎng)到可以控制自我方向的時(shí)候，你就要自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任了。尤其是，我不會(huì)因?yàn)楦改赶Ｍ也灰^(guò)窮日子，而責(zé)怪他們。他們一直很貧窮，我后來(lái)也一度很窮，所以我很理解他們。貧窮并不是一種高貴的經(jīng)歷，它帶來(lái)恐懼、壓力、有時(shí)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(shí)可以引以自豪，但貧窮本身只有對(duì)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(gè)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(shí)，明顯缺乏在大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力，我花了太久時(shí)間在咖啡吧寫(xiě)故事，而在課堂的時(shí)間卻很少。我有一個(gè)通過(guò)考試的訣竅，并且數(shù)年間一直讓我在大學(xué)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(shè)，因?yàn)槟銈兡贻p、有天份，并且受過(guò)良好的教育，就從來(lái)沒(méi)有遇到困難或心碎的時(shí)刻。擁有才華和智慧，從來(lái)不會(huì)使人對(duì)命運(yùn)的反復(fù)無(wú)常有所準(zhǔn)備；我也不會(huì)假設(shè)大家坐在這里冷靜地滿(mǎn)足于自身的優(yōu)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(yè)生的這個(gè)事實(shí)，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(shuō)實(shí)話(huà)，你們眼中的失敗，很可能就是普通人眼中的成功，畢竟你們?cè)趯W(xué)業(yè)上已經(jīng)達(dá)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(dāng)渴望給你一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的。所以我承認(rèn)命運(yùn)的公平，從任何傳統(tǒng)的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)看，在我畢業(yè)僅僅七年后的日子里，我的失敗達(dá)到了史詩(shī)般空前的規(guī)模：短命的婚姻閃電般地破裂，我又失業(yè)成了一個(gè)艱難的單身母親。除了流浪漢，我是當(dāng)代英國(guó)最窮的人之一，真的一無(wú)所有。當(dāng)

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 3 年父母和我自己對(duì)未來(lái)的擔(dān)憂(yōu)，現(xiàn)在都變成了現(xiàn)實(shí)。按照慣常的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)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(xiàn)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(huà)故事里需要?dú)v經(jīng)的磨難，更不知道自己還要在黑暗中走多久。很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間里，前面留給我的只是希望，而不是現(xiàn)實(shí)。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?wù)撌〉暮锰幠?？因?yàn)槭∫馕吨鴦冸x掉那些不必要的東西。我因此不再偽裝自己、遠(yuǎn)離自我，而重新開(kāi)始把所有精力放在對(duì)我最重要的事情上。如果不是沒(méi)有在其他領(lǐng)域成功過(guò)，我可能就不會(huì)找到，在一個(gè)我確信真正屬于的舞臺(tái)上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因?yàn)樽詈ε碌碾m然已經(jīng)發(fā)生了，但我還活著，我仍然有一個(gè)我深?lèi)?ài)的女兒，我還有一個(gè)舊打字機(jī)和一個(gè)很大的想法。所以困境的谷底，成為我重建生活的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。

第五篇：JK羅琳08哈佛演講

JK羅琳2008哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)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.