第一篇：JK羅琳 - 2008哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講(

JK羅琳-2008哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講（視頻+中英對(duì)照文稿）

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

Harvard University Commencement Address

J.K.Rowling

Copyright June 2008

As prepared for delivery

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.Given a time machine or 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 people 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 can 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.失敗帶來(lái)的好處，以及想象力的重要意義

在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的講話

J.K.Rowling

致Faust校長(zhǎng)，哈佛集團(tuán)以及哈佛監(jiān)事委員會(huì)的各位成員，各位教職員工，眾多自豪的家長(zhǎng)，以及最為重要的——各位畢業(yè)生們：

我想要說(shuō)的第一句話是“謝謝你們”。這份感謝不僅來(lái)自于哈佛賦予我如此非同尋常的榮譽(yù)，更是由于幾個(gè)星期以來(lái)每當(dāng)我想到今天的致詞就會(huì)覺(jué)得頭暈惡心，因而終于成功的減肥了。這就是“雙贏”??！現(xiàn)在，我只需要深呼吸幾次，瞄幾眼紅色的橫幅，然后裝模作樣的讓自己相信，我正身處世界上受過(guò)最好教育的哈里波特迷的盛大集會(huì)之中。

在畢業(yè)典禮上致詞意味著極大的責(zé)任——我這樣想著，直到我開(kāi)始回想我自己的畢業(yè)典禮。那天致詞的是著名的英國(guó)哲學(xué)家 Baroness Mary Warnock。對(duì)于她的演講的回憶也極大地幫助了我完成現(xiàn)在這份，因?yàn)?，我完全想不起?lái)她說(shuō)了什么。這個(gè)具有解放意義的重大發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我無(wú)所畏懼的寫下自己的致詞，因?yàn)槲以僖膊槐負(fù)?dān)心會(huì)在不經(jīng)意間對(duì)你們?cè)斐捎绊懀灾劣谧屇銈優(yōu)榱顺蔀橐粋€(gè)快樂(lè)巫師的虛幻憧憬，就放棄自己在商業(yè)、法律界或政界的遠(yuǎn)大前程。

看到了吧？就算若干年后你們對(duì)我的演講的印象只剩下這個(gè)“快樂(lè)的巫師”的笑話，那我還是領(lǐng)先了Baroness Mary Warnock一步的。能夠達(dá)成的目標(biāo)是自我改善的第一步。

事實(shí)上，為了確定今天應(yīng)該對(duì)你們說(shuō)些什么，我真是絞盡了腦汁。我問(wèn)自己，在我自己的畢業(yè)典禮上，我曾期待知道什么？而自那天開(kāi)始到現(xiàn)在的21年間，我又學(xué)到了那些教訓(xùn)？

我想到了兩個(gè)答案。在今天這個(gè)美妙的時(shí)刻，當(dāng)我們齊聚一堂慶祝你們?nèi)〉脤W(xué)業(yè)成功的時(shí)候，我決定跟你們談?wù)勈?lái)的好處。另外，在你們正要一腳踏入所謂“真實(shí)的生活”的時(shí)候，我還要高聲贊頌想象力的重大意義。

這些決定看起來(lái)頗為荒誕而矛盾，但是啊，請(qǐng)聽(tīng)我慢慢道來(lái)。

對(duì)于一個(gè)已經(jīng)42歲的婦人來(lái)說(shuō)，回顧21歲畢業(yè)典禮的時(shí)刻并不是一件十分舒服的事情。在前半生中我一直奮力掙扎，為了在自己的雄心壯志與親人對(duì)我的期盼之間取得一個(gè)平衡。

我自己認(rèn)定今生唯一想做的事情就是寫小說(shuō)。然而，我的出身貧寒、從未受過(guò)大學(xué)教育的父母卻認(rèn)為，我那過(guò)于活躍的想象力只不過(guò)是個(gè)人的怪癖而已，永遠(yuǎn)也不能幫我償還貸款，也不能幫我弄到養(yǎng)老金。

他們希望我取得一個(gè)職業(yè)技能學(xué)位；而我卻向往在英國(guó)文學(xué)方面深造。最后我們互有妥協(xié)并達(dá)成一致，讓我去學(xué)習(xí)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言；而事后想來(lái)，這份妥協(xié)其實(shí)沒(méi)有讓任何一方滿意。于是，沒(méi)等父母的車?yán)@過(guò)路盡頭的拐角從視野里消失，我就丟下了德語(yǔ)，轉(zhuǎn)而沿著古典文學(xué)的道路快步走下去。

我記不得是否有告訴父母我其實(shí)在學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)；他們也可能在出席畢業(yè)典禮的時(shí)候終于覺(jué)察了事實(shí)真相。在地球上所有的學(xué)科當(dāng)中，當(dāng)涉及到“獲得使用正式員工專用洗手間的權(quán)利”的時(shí)候，我估計(jì)他們很難想到比希臘神話更沒(méi)用的學(xué)科了。

順便提一句，我必須聲明自己并沒(méi)有為父母的觀點(diǎn)而責(zé)怪他們的意思。你不能總是責(zé)怪父母指錯(cuò)了方向；當(dāng)你長(zhǎng)大成人、可以獨(dú)立掌舵的時(shí)候，這份責(zé)任就應(yīng)該由你獨(dú)立承擔(dān)了。況且，父母希望我永遠(yuǎn)都不要經(jīng)受貧窮，而我不能譴責(zé)這一期望。他們自己飽受貧寒之苦，而我也曾經(jīng)是個(gè)窮人，我十分贊同他們的想法——貧窮決不是什么高貴的經(jīng)歷。伴隨貧窮而來(lái)的是恐懼和緊張，有時(shí)還會(huì)陷入憂傷沮喪之中；這些都意味著無(wú)盡的卑微和艱難。憑借自己的力量掙脫貧困境地，這的確是值得自豪的事情，但是只有愚蠢的人才會(huì)一廂情愿的為貧窮本身涂抹浪漫的色彩。當(dāng)我像你們這么大的時(shí)候，我最害怕的甚至還不是貧窮，而是失敗。

當(dāng)我像你們這么大的時(shí)候，我對(duì)大學(xué)里的課程沒(méi)什么動(dòng)力，總是在咖啡館里花上大把的時(shí)間寫小說(shuō)，而用于聽(tīng)課的時(shí)間則寥寥無(wú)幾。盡管如此，我卻有些讓自己能通過(guò)考試的竅門；而考試，在若干年中，就成了衡量我和我同齡人的成敗的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

我不會(huì)笨到認(rèn)為你們這些年輕、有天賦、受過(guò)良好教育的孩子就從來(lái)不知道困難和心碎的滋味。天賦和智力并不能讓人免受命運(yùn)的捉弄；我也從不認(rèn)為在這里的所有人都享有不可破壞的特權(quán)與滿足。

然而，畢業(yè)于哈佛大學(xué)這一事實(shí)暗示著你們并不十分熟悉失敗。驅(qū)動(dòng)你們前行的對(duì)于失敗的恐懼可能更為接近對(duì)于成功的渴望。事實(shí)上，你們心目中的失敗很可能與普通人設(shè)想的成功相差無(wú)幾，畢竟你們?cè)趯W(xué)業(yè)上的成功已經(jīng)高到遙不可及。

最終，我們都要按自己的想法給失敗下一個(gè)定義；但是如果你允許的話，這個(gè)世界會(huì)迫不及待的為你設(shè)定一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。因此我覺(jué)得，不管按照什么慣行標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，僅僅在畢業(yè)七年之后，我都確確實(shí)實(shí)的失敗了，而且敗得徹徹底底。我那罕見(jiàn)的短暫婚姻走到了盡頭，自己又失業(yè)了。一個(gè)單身母親，淪落到當(dāng)代英國(guó)最為貧困的境地，只不過(guò)還沒(méi)到無(wú)家可歸的程度而已。我父母害怕發(fā)生在我身上的事情，我害怕發(fā)生在自己身上的事情，都降臨了。無(wú)論按照什么標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)看，我都是我所知道的最大的失敗。

現(xiàn)在，我站在這里，告訴你們失敗可是件一點(diǎn)也不好玩的事情。那個(gè)時(shí)候我的人生被黑暗籠罩，根本想不到在未來(lái)的時(shí)光里這段經(jīng)歷竟會(huì)被報(bào)道為神話般的堅(jiān)定意志。那時(shí)候我不知道黑暗的隧道何時(shí)才是盡頭，而盡頭的任何光亮都像是渺茫的希望而非穩(wěn)固的現(xiàn)實(shí)。

為什么我還要談起失敗的好處呢？簡(jiǎn)單的說(shuō)，是因?yàn)槭?huì)為我們揭去表面那些無(wú)關(guān)緊要的東西。我不再裝模作樣，終于重新做回自己，開(kāi)始將所有的精力投入到自己在意的唯一作品。如果我此前在其它的任何什么方面有所成功，我恐怕都會(huì)失去在自己真正歸屬的舞臺(tái)上獲得成功的決心。我最大的恐懼終于成為現(xiàn)實(shí)，而我卻因此獲得了自由，我還活著，還有我深愛(ài)的女兒，我還有一架老式打字機(jī)和一個(gè)宏大的夢(mèng)想。這片頑固的低谷成為我腳下堅(jiān)定的基石，在此之上，我重筑了自己的人生。

你們也許不會(huì)像我摔得這樣慘，但是人生路上總會(huì)有些失敗。你也許可以毫無(wú)失敗的度過(guò)一生，但你將活得如此小心翼翼，就好像你幾乎沒(méi)有活過(guò)——不管從什么意義上講，你都注定要失敗的。

失敗賦予我內(nèi)心的安全感，而這是考試及格也不能讓我感受到的。失敗讓我明白關(guān)于自己的一些東西，這是除了失敗以外我決不可能獲得的認(rèn)知。我意識(shí)到自己擁有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志，而且比我以前設(shè)想的還要自律；我還發(fā)現(xiàn)我擁有的朋友們是如此寶貴，其價(jià)值連寶石也不能媲美。

你在挫折中成長(zhǎng)，更聰明，更強(qiáng)壯，這意味著從此以后你已擁有了牢不可催的生存能力。直到通過(guò)逆境的考驗(yàn)，你才會(huì)真正了解自己，以及你周圍的人賦予你的力量。這些認(rèn)知都是寶貴的財(cái)富，我歷經(jīng)艱辛才獲得的財(cái)富，這比我得到的任何資格證書都更有價(jià)值。如果能夠讓時(shí)光倒流，我會(huì)告訴21歲的自己，幸福在于懂得人生不是收獲和成就的清單。你的資格證書或你的簡(jiǎn)歷，并不是你的生活；盡管你將遇到很多我這樣年紀(jì)、甚至比我更老的人，他們卻還分不清楚兩者間的區(qū)別。生活是嚴(yán)酷的，也是復(fù)雜的，更不處于任何人的掌控；謙遜的懂得并接受這一點(diǎn)，會(huì)幫助安然你度過(guò)生活中的風(fēng)浪。

也許你們會(huì)以為，我之所以選擇第二個(gè)主題——想象力的重要性，是因?yàn)橄胂罅υ谖抑刂松鷷r(shí)發(fā)揮了巨大作用。但這并不是全部的原因。我固然到死也會(huì)捍衛(wèi)睡前故事的價(jià)值，但我還認(rèn)識(shí)到要在更為廣闊的范圍內(nèi)珍視想象力。想象力是人類獨(dú)有的預(yù)見(jiàn)未知的能力，它還是所有發(fā)明創(chuàng)造的源泉。它具有已被證實(shí)的最富變革性和啟示性的力量，而正是想象力讓我們能夠切身體會(huì)他人的經(jīng)驗(yàn)——雖然我們自己并未身臨其境。

對(duì)我影響最為深遠(yuǎn)的經(jīng)歷發(fā)生在哈里波特之前，而這一經(jīng)歷為我后來(lái)完成著作提供了很多信息。我在最早的全日制工作中獲得了啟示。在二十幾歲的時(shí)候，我在位于倫敦的國(guó)際特赦組織總部的研究部門工作，以獲得付房租的錢，而午餐的時(shí)候我就溜掉去寫小說(shuō)。

在那里，我坐在小小的辦公室里閱讀來(lái)自集權(quán)統(tǒng)治下的地區(qū)的信件。男人和女人們急切的寫下潦草的文字，將信偷偷寄出來(lái)，冒著坐牢的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)告訴外界自己遭受了怎樣的對(duì)待。我看到那些無(wú)聲無(wú)息地失蹤了的人的照片，是由他們的絕望的親人和朋友寄到特赦組織來(lái)的。我讀著被嚴(yán)刑拷打的受害人的證詞，看著記錄他們的慘狀的照片。我打開(kāi)手寫的親眼見(jiàn)證的記錄，記載著對(duì)于綁架和強(qiáng)奸案件的簡(jiǎn)單審訊和執(zhí)行。

我的很多同事以前都是政治犯。他們被迫離開(kāi)家庭或流亡國(guó)外，因?yàn)樗麄冇杏職庖元?dú)立意志評(píng)判他們的政府。我們的辦公室的訪客有些是來(lái)提供信息的，也有人前來(lái)了解他們被迫放棄的同伴的情況。

我永遠(yuǎn)也無(wú)法忘記一個(gè)來(lái)自非洲的經(jīng)受嚴(yán)刑拷打的受害者。他是個(gè)年輕人，不會(huì)比那時(shí)的我年紀(jì)更大，在自己的祖國(guó)遭受的一切已經(jīng)使他有些精神失常。對(duì)著攝影機(jī)講述自己遭受的痛苦的時(shí)候，他無(wú)法抑制的戰(zhàn)栗著。他比我高一英尺，看上去卻像孩子一樣脆弱無(wú)助。隨后，在我按照吩咐護(hù)送他去地鐵的路上，這個(gè)人生已被殘暴摧毀的男人卻優(yōu)雅有禮的拉著我的手，祝我未來(lái)幸?？鞓?lè)。

在我有生之年，我都會(huì)記得自己走過(guò)一條空曠的走廊的時(shí)候，從身后一扇緊閉的門內(nèi)傳出的尖叫。其中包含的痛苦和恐懼是如此強(qiáng)烈，我以后再?zèng)]聽(tīng)過(guò)那樣的聲音。門打開(kāi)了，一個(gè)工作人員探出頭，告訴我趕快跑去，給坐在她身邊的青年男子拿一杯熱飲。她剛剛告訴那位年青人，由于他本人公開(kāi)反對(duì)自己國(guó)家的專制，他的母親已被抓走并處決了。

在我二十幾歲的時(shí)候，工作中的每一天，我都不斷被提醒著自己是多么的幸運(yùn)，能夠生活在一個(gè)民選政府管理的國(guó)家，人人都享有法律代理和公開(kāi)審判的權(quán)利。

每天我都看見(jiàn)更多的人類的邪惡加諸于同胞的證據(jù)，這樣的罪惡僅僅是為了獲得或者維持權(quán)力。我開(kāi)始做惡夢(mèng)，徹頭徹尾的惡夢(mèng)，夢(mèng)到那些我看到、聽(tīng)到和讀到的事情。

然而，在國(guó)際特赦組織里我還了解了很多關(guān)于人類的好的一面，有些是我從不知道的。國(guó)際特赦組織調(diào)動(dòng)了幾千人，他們從未因自己的信念而被折磨或監(jiān)禁，他們代表那些飽受折磨的人并為之行事。人類的同情心的力量引導(dǎo)了集體行動(dòng)，拯救生命，釋放被關(guān)押的人們。那些個(gè)人幸福和安全已經(jīng)得到保證的普通人，為了拯救他們并不認(rèn)識(shí)、甚至再也不會(huì)見(jiàn)面的陌生人而集結(jié)起來(lái)，匯聚成強(qiáng)大的群體。我個(gè)人在其中的參與，是我今生最為卑微、卻最為振奮的經(jīng)歷。

人類與地球上的其它生物不同。就算沒(méi)有親身經(jīng)歷，人類也可以學(xué)習(xí)和理解。人類可以將自己代入別人的思想之中，設(shè)想自己處于他人的境地。

當(dāng)然，這也是力量，就好像我的小說(shuō)中的魔法。這是在道德上中立的力量，可以被用于操縱和控制，也可以被用于理解和同情。

還有很多人寧愿不去使用他們的想象力。他們選擇舒舒服服的呆在自己的經(jīng)歷之內(nèi)，從不費(fèi)事去想象如果他們生下來(lái)是別的人，那一切將會(huì)怎樣。他們可以拒絕傾聽(tīng)叫喊聲，也不會(huì)窺視籠子內(nèi)的情況；對(duì)于任何沒(méi)有降臨到自身的痛苦，他們都可以關(guān)閉自己的頭腦和心靈；他們可以拒絕知道。

也許我禁不住會(huì)想要嫉妒這樣生活的人，只可惜我不相信他們做的惡夢(mèng)會(huì)比我少。選擇生活在狹窄的范圍里，會(huì)導(dǎo)致某種精神上的對(duì)于陌生環(huán)境的恐懼癥，并由此產(chǎn)生相應(yīng)的害怕心理。我認(rèn)為那些自己決定不去想象的人會(huì)看到更多的怪物。他們通常會(huì)更害怕。

另外，選擇不去同情的人會(huì)養(yǎng)育現(xiàn)實(shí)中的怪物。就算我們自己沒(méi)有親自作出邪惡的事情，我們對(duì)于邪惡的無(wú)動(dòng)于衷就等同于和它同謀。

十八歲時(shí)，為了尋找那時(shí)我無(wú)法描述的目的，我踏上了古典文學(xué)的探險(xiǎn)道路；當(dāng)走到盡頭的時(shí)候，我學(xué)到了很多東西，其中之一就是希臘作家Plutarch的這句話：我們?cè)趦?nèi)心的所得，將改變外界的現(xiàn)實(shí)。

這句驚人的宣言卻每天都被我們的生活證實(shí)無(wú)數(shù)次。在某種程度上，它表達(dá)了我們與外面世界的無(wú)法逃避的聯(lián)系；它道出這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)，僅僅是我們自身的存在，就已經(jīng)觸碰到了他人的生活。

但是，哈佛大學(xué)2008屆的畢業(yè)生們，你們又將對(duì)他人的生活深入多少呢？你們的智慧、你們應(yīng)對(duì)高難度工作的才能、你們謀求并接受到的教育，都賦予你們

獨(dú)一無(wú)二的身份，以及獨(dú)一無(wú)二的責(zé)任。即使你們的國(guó)籍將你們區(qū)隔開(kāi)來(lái)。你們中的大多數(shù)，屬于這個(gè)世界目前僅存的超級(jí)大國(guó)。你們投票的方式，你們生活的方式，你們抗議的方式，你們對(duì)于政府施加的壓力，其影響都會(huì)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出你們自身的界限。那就是你們的特權(quán)，也是你們背負(fù)的重任。

如果你選擇了，用你的身份和影響力來(lái)提高你的聲音，為那些沒(méi)有聲音的人吶喊；如果你選擇了，不僅認(rèn)同權(quán)勢(shì)群體，更要與弱勢(shì)群體為伍；如果你保留了想象的能力，能夠與不具備你的優(yōu)勢(shì)的那些人感同身受。那么，不僅僅是你的家人會(huì)為你自豪，更有成千上萬(wàn)的、因?yàn)槟愣畹酶玫娜藭?huì)為你歡呼。我們并不需要魔法來(lái)改造世界。我們?cè)趦?nèi)心深處已經(jīng)擁有了所需的所有力量：我們擁有想象更好的世界的力量。

我的話快要說(shuō)完了。最后，我對(duì)你們還有一個(gè)期望，在我21歲的時(shí)候我就懷有這個(gè)期望。在畢業(yè)典禮上與我坐在一起的朋友們，后來(lái)成了我一生的朋友。他們是我的孩子們的教父和教母。他們是我陷入困境時(shí)可以尋求幫助的人。他們是如此寬容的朋友，就連名字被我用來(lái)命名食死徒的時(shí)候也沒(méi)有起訴我。在畢業(yè)典禮上，我們被心中澎湃的激情緊密聯(lián)結(jié)，被共同分享的寶貴時(shí)光緊密聯(lián)結(jié)，當(dāng)然，也被某個(gè)共識(shí)緊密聯(lián)結(jié)——如果我們中的某人有朝一日當(dāng)選為英國(guó)首相，那我們持有的合影照片肯定會(huì)價(jià)值不菲。

因此，今天，我能夠送給你們的最好的祝福，就是這樣的友誼。明天，我希望就算你記不起我說(shuō)過(guò)的任何一個(gè)字，你還是能夠想起Seneca說(shuō)過(guò)的話。那時(shí)我已遠(yuǎn)離職業(yè)生涯的階梯，轉(zhuǎn)而尋找古代的智慧。我在沿著古典文學(xué)的走廊飛奔時(shí)遇到了這個(gè)古羅馬的家伙。

他說(shuō)：

人生就像故事，不在于漫長(zhǎng)，而在于精彩。

我祝你們所有人一生幸福。

非常感謝。

第二篇：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，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)雙方都不甚滿意的妥協(xié)：我改學(xué)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言?？墒堑鹊礁改敢蛔唛_(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，在全世界的所有專業(yè)中，他們也許認(rèn)為，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話更沒(méi)用的專業(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^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，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，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)我深愛(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)。

第三篇：jk羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

J·K·羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

J·K·羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

作者： 阮一峰

日期： 2008年6月17日

一、今年6月5日是哈佛大學(xué)的畢業(yè)典禮，請(qǐng)來(lái)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(jué)得很好，很感染人。

她幾乎沒(méi)有談到哈里波特，而是說(shuō)了年輕時(shí)的一些經(jīng)歷。雖然J·K·羅琳現(xiàn)在很有錢，是英國(guó)僅次于女皇的最富有的女人，但是她曾經(jīng)有一段非常艱辛的日子，30歲了，還差點(diǎn)流落街頭。她主要談的是，自己從這段經(jīng)歷中學(xué)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，我繼續(xù)翻譯，有興趣的朋友可以在網(wǎng)上找到原文和視頻。

二、她首先說(shuō)了自己如何構(gòu)思演講稿，以及選擇的兩個(gè)演講主題。President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.福斯特校長(zhǎng)，哈佛集團(tuán)的各位成員，監(jiān)管理事會(huì)的各位理事，各位老師，各位自豪的家長(zhǎng)，以及最重要的各位畢業(yè)生同學(xué)，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 have 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 Gryffindor reunion.我想說(shuō)的第一句話，就是“謝謝”。不僅因?yàn)楣鸾o了我這樣非同一般的榮譽(yù)，還因?yàn)闉榱藰?gòu)思今天的演講，我忍受了幾個(gè)星期的擔(dān)驚受怕、茶飯不思的生活，使得我體重減輕。這真可謂“雙贏”啊！現(xiàn)在，我唯一要做的就是深呼吸，偷偷看一眼四周飄揚(yáng)的紅色旗幟，讓自己相信真的來(lái)到了世界上最大的“格蘭芬多”聚會(huì)。

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, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.在畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表演講，是一項(xiàng)巨大的責(zé)任，令我倍感壓力。直到我回憶起了自己的畢業(yè)典禮，才稍稍放松。那一次的演講嘉賓是杰出的英國(guó)哲學(xué)家瑪麗·沃諾克?；叵胨难葜v，極大地幫助我寫作自己的演講稿，因?yàn)槲野l(fā)現(xiàn)一點(diǎn)也不記得她的任何一句話了。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我如釋重負(fù)，不再害怕自己在不經(jīng)意間就對(duì)你們產(chǎn)生影響，讓你們放棄在商業(yè)、法律、政治方面的大好前途，去追求成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)巫師的那種令人眩暈的愉悅。

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Achievable goals: the first step to self improvement.你們明白嗎？如果多年以后，你們只記得我講的這個(gè)“快樂(lè)巫師”的笑話，我就已經(jīng)超過(guò)瑪麗·沃諾克了。可以實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)，是自己改進(jìn)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 have expired between that day and this.實(shí)際上，我真的是絞盡腦汁，思索今天自己到底應(yīng)該講什么。我問(wèn)自己，當(dāng)年我畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，希望知道哪些事情；以及21年后的今天，我又從人生中得到哪些重要的經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)。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.我得到了兩個(gè)回答。這個(gè)美妙的日子，我們聚集一堂，慶祝你們?cè)趯W(xué)業(yè)上的成功，但是我決定跟你們說(shuō)說(shuō)失敗的好處。以及當(dāng)你們站在所謂“真實(shí)世界”的門檻之上的時(shí)候，我要頌揚(yáng)想象力的重要性。

These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.這樣的主題可能看上去有點(diǎn)異想天開(kāi)和自相矛盾，但是請(qǐng)聽(tīng)下去。

三、她開(kāi)始回憶自己大學(xué)畢業(yè)時(shí)的情景：

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.對(duì)于一個(gè)42歲的婦女來(lái)說(shuō)，回想自己21歲畢業(yè)時(shí)的情景，是一種稍稍令人不安的經(jīng)歷?；氐?1年之前，我正遭受煎熬，不知道在自己內(nèi)心的追求與父母對(duì)我的期望之間，應(yīng)該如何平衡。

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 would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.當(dāng)時(shí)，我確信自己一生中唯一想做的事情，就是去寫小說(shuō)。但是，我的父母出身貧寒，沒(méi)有受過(guò)大學(xué)教育。他們認(rèn)為，我那些不安分的想象力只是一種怪癖，根本不能用來(lái)還房貸，或者掙來(lái)養(yǎng)老金。我現(xiàn)在知道，這種人生的反諷，有著卡通片里大鐵砧般的巨大打擊力。

So they 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(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位，而我想去研究英國(guó)文學(xué)。最后，達(dá)成了一個(gè)雙方都不甚滿意的妥協(xié)：我改學(xué)語(yǔ)言學(xué)。可是等到父母的車消失在公路的轉(zhuǎn)角，我就立刻拋掉了德語(yǔ)，奔向古典文學(xué)的道路。

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。他們可能是在畢業(yè)典禮那一天才發(fā)現(xiàn)的。我想，在全世界的所有專業(yè)中，他們也許認(rèn)為，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話更沒(méi)用的專業(yè)了，根本無(wú)法換來(lái)一間獨(dú)立的寬敞衛(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.我要申明，我并不責(zé)怪父母有這種看法。父母只在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，對(duì)你的人生方向負(fù)責(zé)；當(dāng)你長(zhǎng)大以后，你自己就控制了人生方向，必須自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任。而且，他們只是希望我不要過(guò)窮日子，我不能批評(píng)他們。他們自己很窮，我后來(lái)一度也很窮，所以我很理解他們，貧窮是一種悲慘的經(jīng)歷。它帶來(lái)恐懼、壓力、有時(shí)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(shí)讓人自豪，但是只有傻瓜才會(huì)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(yè)后只過(guò)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

第四篇：JK羅琳 - 2008哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

Text as delivered follows.Copyright of JK Rowling, June 2008

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 have 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 Gryffindor reunion.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, the 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 come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Achievable goals: the first step to self 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 have 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 may 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 would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.So they 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 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.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.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 that 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 then 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 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 the price of 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 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 people 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.Now 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 personally 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 at the African 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 speak against their governments.Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had left 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 back 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 had to give 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 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 leads 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 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 change.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, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took 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.福斯特主席、哈佛同仁和監(jiān)察委員會(huì)的各位員工，各位老師，家長(zhǎng)、同學(xué)們: 首先請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說(shuō)一聲謝謝。哈佛給予我的不僅僅是無(wú)上的榮譽(yù)，還有連日來(lái)因?yàn)橐幌氲竭@個(gè)演講，帶來(lái)的恐懼以及恐懼導(dǎo)致的陣陣惡心讓我減肥成功。這真是一個(gè)雙贏的局面?，F(xiàn)在我要做的就是深呼吸，瞇著眼睛看著眼前的大紅橫幅，安慰自己只是在世界上最大的矮人大會(huì)上。發(fā)表畢業(yè)演說(shuō)是一個(gè)巨大的責(zé)任，我的思緒一下子回到自己的畢業(yè)典禮上。那天做報(bào)告的是英國(guó)著名的哲學(xué)家Baroness Mary Warnock，通過(guò)對(duì)她的演講的回憶對(duì)我寫今天的演講稿給予了極大地幫助。因?yàn)槲也挥浀盟f(shuō)過(guò)的任何一句話了，這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我釋然，讓我不再有任何恐懼。我可能會(huì)無(wú)意中影響你，放棄在商業(yè)、法律或政治等有前途的職業(yè)而為眩暈的愉悅成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)的魔法師。你們都明白，如果在若干年后您還記得'快樂(lè)的魔法師'這個(gè)笑話，說(shuō)明我已經(jīng)超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。

可實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)：個(gè)人提高的第一步。其實(shí)，我為今天應(yīng)該告訴你們什么已經(jīng)殫精竭慮了。我曾問(wèn)自己：我從畢業(yè)到現(xiàn)在的這些年里，學(xué)到和了解了什么重要的教訓(xùn)。我已想出了兩個(gè)答案。在這個(gè)美好的一天，當(dāng)我們正聚集在一起慶祝您畢業(yè)的時(shí)刻，我已決定與你們談?wù)勈〉暮锰?；另一方面，你們站?現(xiàn)實(shí)生活'的門檻上，我要歌頌至關(guān)重要的想象力。這些似乎是不切實(shí)際或似是而非的選擇，但請(qǐng)?jiān)徫摇Ｗ屢粋€(gè)已經(jīng)42歲的人回顧在她21歲畢業(yè)時(shí)情景，是個(gè)讓人有點(diǎn)不舒服的經(jīng)歷。可以說(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)我的期望兩者之間取得平衡。我一直深信我唯一想做的事----寫小說(shuō)。不過(guò)，我的父母兩人都來(lái)自貧窮的背景，而且沒(méi)有任何一人上過(guò)大學(xué)。他們都堅(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，絕不可支付按揭或保證安穩(wěn)的退休金。他們希望我拿到一個(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位?？晌蚁雽W(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)文學(xué)。最終達(dá)成了一個(gè)折衷的意見(jiàn)，現(xiàn)在想起來(lái)仍不令人滿意，最終，我去學(xué)習(xí)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言。幾乎剛把車停在路盡頭的墻角（譯者加指去校報(bào)道），我放棄了德語(yǔ)并逃到古典文學(xué)的殿堂。我不記得是否告訴我的父母我是學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)的。也許他們很可能在我畢業(yè)那天才第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)我的專業(yè)是什么。在這個(gè)星球上的所有科目里，我想他們會(huì)認(rèn)為再?zèng)]有比希臘神話學(xué)更糟糕的了。

我想澄清一下：我不會(huì)因?yàn)樗麄兊挠^點(diǎn)而責(zé)怪我的父母。埋怨父母給你指錯(cuò)方向是有時(shí)間段的。當(dāng)你長(zhǎng)到自己可以掌握方向時(shí)，你就要自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任了。尤其是，我不會(huì)因?yàn)樽约合Ｍ灰?jīng)歷貧窮而責(zé)怪我的父母。他們是貧窮的，我也一直很貧窮。貧困帶來(lái)的恐懼，壓力有時(shí)是絕望，這意味著屈辱和苦難。用您自己的努力擺脫貧困這確實(shí)是一件對(duì)自己而言驕傲的事情。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)年齡時(shí)，最害怕的不是貧窮，而是失敗。像你們這樣大時(shí)，我明顯缺乏在大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力。我花了太久在咖啡吧寫故事，而在課堂的時(shí)間就很少了。我有一個(gè)通過(guò)考試的訣竅，并且數(shù)年間一直認(rèn)為我的生活在我的同齡人中是成功的現(xiàn)在。我不愚蠢假設(shè)因?yàn)槟銈兊哪贻p，天才和受過(guò)良好教育就從來(lái)沒(méi)有困難或心碎的時(shí)刻。才華和智商從來(lái)不會(huì)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)大家都坐這里冷靜地滿足于自身的優(yōu)越感。但從哈佛畢業(yè)的事實(shí)表明，你們對(duì)失敗不熟悉。害怕失敗像渴望成功一樣強(qiáng)烈。事實(shí)上，您對(duì)失敗的理解可能和普通人對(duì)成功的看法不會(huì)太遠(yuǎn)。因?yàn)槟銈円呀?jīng)站在如此之高的位置。最終，我們所有人都必須自己決定什么構(gòu)成失敗，但如果你愿意，世界是相當(dāng)渴望給你一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的。因而我可以公平地講，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，我的失敗就達(dá)到了空前的規(guī)模：一個(gè)異常短暫的破裂的婚姻、失業(yè)、一個(gè)單親家長(zhǎng)，像在現(xiàn)代英國(guó)的窮人一樣，只是還沒(méi)有到無(wú)家可歸的地步罷了。眼前時(shí)刻浮現(xiàn)著父母和自己對(duì)未來(lái)的擔(dān)心。按照慣常的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)看，我是我所見(jiàn)過(guò)的最大的失敗者?，F(xiàn)在，我不打算站在這里告訴你失敗是好玩的，我的那段生活經(jīng)歷是困窘不堪的；我更不知道新聞媒體所說(shuō)的童話故事般的革命；我也不知道那種困苦要持續(xù)多久；在相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間里，任何盡頭的光明都只是一個(gè)希望而不是現(xiàn)實(shí)。

那么，為什么我要談?wù)撌〉暮锰幠?？只是因?yàn)槭∫馕吨鴦冸x你不必需的東西。我不是在偽裝自己，我只是直接把所有精力放在最重要的工作上。如果我不是沒(méi)有在其他領(lǐng)域成功過(guò)，我可能絕不會(huì)有在真正屬于自己的舞臺(tái)上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因?yàn)槲易詈ε碌囊呀?jīng)發(fā)生了，但是我還活著，我還有一個(gè)我深愛(ài)著的女兒，還有一個(gè)舊打字機(jī)和一個(gè)大創(chuàng)意（指寫哈利波特）。所以困境的谷底成為我重建生活的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。你可能永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)有我這種失敗的經(jīng)歷，但有些失敗，在生活中是不可避免的。毫無(wú)挫折的生活是不存在，除非你生活的萬(wàn)般小心，可有些失敗還是會(huì)發(fā)生。失敗讓我內(nèi)心安全，是我從通過(guò)考試中沒(méi)有得到過(guò)的。失敗教會(huì)我一些不能用其他方法獲得的東西，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志，比想象中還多的原則，我也發(fā)現(xiàn)我擁有朋友----他們的價(jià)值遠(yuǎn)在紅寶石之上。從挫折中得到知識(shí)將使你更加明智和堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，也就是說(shuō)您比以往任何時(shí)候更有能力生存。你從來(lái)沒(méi)有真正認(rèn)識(shí)自己，或通過(guò)逆境的檢驗(yàn)認(rèn)識(shí)到您的朋友的力量，直到兩者經(jīng)受逆境的考驗(yàn)。對(duì)所有人而言，這種認(rèn)知是一個(gè)真正的禮物。這是痛苦的勝利比我取得的任何資格有著更高的價(jià)值。

給我一部時(shí)間機(jī)器，我會(huì)告訴21歲的自己：個(gè)人的幸福在于知道生命是不是一個(gè)獲得或取得的核對(duì)清單。你的資歷、簡(jiǎn)歷，都不是你的生活，雖然你會(huì)遇到很多人和我同齡或者更老一點(diǎn)的人依然混淆兩者。生活是困難的，復(fù)雜的，超出任何人的控制。謙恭地認(rèn)識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)將使你歷經(jīng)滄桑后能夠更好的生存。

你可能會(huì)認(rèn)為我選擇了我的第二個(gè)主題：想象力的重要性因?yàn)檫@是重建我生活的一部分。但事實(shí)并非完全如此，雖然我永遠(yuǎn)捍衛(wèi)睡前故事的價(jià)值，我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)了想象擁有的更廣泛的意義。想象力不僅是人類獨(dú)具能力：設(shè)想還不存在的事物是所有發(fā)明和創(chuàng)新的源泉。這種改造和揭露的能力，使我們能夠?qū)ψ约何唇?jīng)歷的苦難者產(chǎn)生同理心。其中一個(gè)影響最大的經(jīng)歷在我寫哈利波特的生活之前，但大部分是在我隨后寫的那些書里。這個(gè)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。在我的小辦公室，我看到了人們?cè)诖颐χ袑懙男牛@些信是從極權(quán)主義政權(quán)那里偷運(yùn)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。我看到那些無(wú)跡可尋的人的照片-----由他們的家人和朋友鋌而走險(xiǎn)地送到大赦國(guó)際來(lái)的。我看過(guò)拷問(wèn)受害者的證詞和被害的照片，我也讀過(guò)筆跡、目擊證人的供詞以及即決審判和處決的綁架和*犯的檔案。我有很多的合作者是前政治犯，他們已離開(kāi)家園流離失所，或逃亡流放，因?yàn)樗麄兇竽懙貞岩烧拿裰鲉?wèn)題。來(lái)我們辦公室的訪客有告密者以及想了解迫害真相的人。

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)比我還小的年輕男子，他因在故鄉(xiāng)的悲慘經(jīng)歷導(dǎo)致精神錯(cuò)亂。當(dāng)他在攝像機(jī)前講述被殘暴的摧殘的時(shí)候，他顫抖失控。他比我稍高一點(diǎn)，但當(dāng)時(shí)看來(lái)卻像個(gè)脆弱的孩童。后來(lái)，我被安排護(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!

并且只要我還活著，我就會(huì)記得走過(guò)一個(gè)空蕩蕩的的走廊。突然從背后的門里傳來(lái)我從未聽(tīng)過(guò)的尖叫的痛苦和恐懼，門打開(kāi)了，研究員探出她的頭告訴我為坐在她旁邊的青年男子，調(diào)一杯熱飲料。他剛被告知消息：為了報(bào)復(fù)他對(duì)國(guó)家政權(quán)的批評(píng)，他母親已被捕并執(zhí)行了槍決。在我20多歲的時(shí)候，我工作的每一天，都在提醒我是多么的幸運(yùn)。生活在一個(gè)民選政府的國(guó)家，律師和公開(kāi)審理，是每個(gè)人的權(quán)利。每天我都能看到很多有關(guān)惡人的證據(jù)，他們?yōu)榱双@得或維持權(quán)力而對(duì)自己的同胞所犯下的暴行。我開(kāi)始做噩夢(mèng)，都和我的所見(jiàn)所聞?dòng)嘘P(guān)，并且我也了解到更多關(guān)于人類的善良。在國(guó)際特赦組織學(xué)到的比以前多得多。大赦動(dòng)員成千上萬(wàn)有自由信仰的人，去為那些因信仰而遭遇不幸的人奔走抗?fàn)帯Ｈ祟愅硇牡牧α?，引發(fā)的集體拯救生命的行動(dòng)，釋放囚犯。眾多幸福安康的普通百姓，攜手合作挽救那些素不相識(shí)或再也不能相逢的人。這在道德上是中立的，是我生命中一段最謙恭和發(fā)人深省的生活經(jīng)歷。

不同于這個(gè)星球上的任何其他生物，人類可以學(xué)習(xí)理解未經(jīng)歷過(guò)的東西。他們可以設(shè)身處地為別人著想當(dāng)然，這是一種能力就像我虛構(gòu)的魔法世界一樣。這在道德上也是中立的。一個(gè)人可能會(huì)利用這種能力去操縱、或控制，但也有很多人選擇去了解或同情。很多人一點(diǎn)也不喜歡鍛煉自己的想象力，他們選擇待在舒適的生活范圍內(nèi)，從來(lái)不麻煩地去想想如果自己出生在別處一切會(huì)怎么樣。他們拒絕聽(tīng)到尖叫聲或向籠子里窺視，他們可以封閉自己的內(nèi)心。只要痛苦不觸及他們個(gè)人，他們可以拒絕去了解。我可能會(huì)因誘惑而嫉妒那樣生活的人，除了我不認(rèn)為他們會(huì)比我少做噩夢(mèng)。選擇住在狹窄的空間可導(dǎo)致某種形式的精神廣場(chǎng)恐懼癥，并給自己帶來(lái)恐懼感。我認(rèn)為不想看到更多怪物的人，他們常常更害怕。更甚的是，那些選擇不同情的人可能激活真正的怪獸，因?yàn)槲覀冏约簺](méi)有嚴(yán)懲邪惡，冷漠與無(wú)視卻讓我們犯下了邪惡的共謀罪。

在21歲時(shí)，我從古典文學(xué)中學(xué)到很多知識(shí)。其中之一我所不明白的是，希臘作家普魯塔克所說(shuō)的：我們內(nèi)心的實(shí)現(xiàn)將改變外在現(xiàn)實(shí)。那是一個(gè)多么驚人的論斷，并在我們生活的每天被無(wú)數(shù)次論證。這在某種程度上表明，我們與外部世界有逃不掉的瓜葛。事實(shí)上，我們以自己的存在來(lái)接觸其他人的生命。但哈佛大學(xué)的級(jí)的畢業(yè)生們，你們中的多少人會(huì)去觸及他人的生命呢？

你們的智慧、努力工作的能力以及所受的教育將給予你們獨(dú)特的地位和責(zé)任。即使您的國(guó)籍把你與別人分開(kāi)了，你們絕大部份仍屬于世界上僅存的超級(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，你們給自己的政府帶來(lái)的壓力，其影響力將超越你們的國(guó)界，這是你們的特權(quán)，也是你們的負(fù)擔(dān)。

如果您選擇使用您的地位和影響力去代表那些沒(méi)有發(fā)言權(quán)的人，發(fā)出聲音；如果您不僅去幫助強(qiáng)者，而且還會(huì)同情并幫扶弱者；

如果你會(huì)設(shè)身處地為不如你的人著想；

那么，您的存在將不僅是你家族的驕傲，也是無(wú)數(shù)因你幫助而過(guò)上幸福生活的人的驕傲。我們不需要魔法來(lái)改變世界，我們已經(jīng)擁有了需要的所有的力量。我們有能力想象會(huì)更好。

我的演講也接近尾聲了。對(duì)你們，我有最后一個(gè)希望，也是我在21歲時(shí)就一直在思考的。畢業(yè)那天坐在我身邊的朋友將是我終身的朋友。他們是我的孩子的教父母，是我在遇到麻煩是可以求助的人，是當(dāng)我用他們的姓名作為食死徒的名字而不會(huì)起訴我的朋友（譯者注：食死徒是哈利波特中人物在此指羅琳的朋友不會(huì)因?yàn)樗盟麄兊拿侄馄鹪V）。

在我們畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，我們因無(wú)盡的愛(ài)而在此相聚。我們有共同的永不再有的經(jīng)歷。當(dāng)然，如果我們中的任何人競(jìng)選首相，那么今天的照片將是極為寶貴的證明。所以，今天我可以給你們的，沒(méi)有比同伴的友誼更好的祝福了。

明天，我希望你們即使記不得我的名字，你還記得那些塞內(nèi)加，他是我在羅馬文學(xué)著作中結(jié)識(shí)的另一位哲學(xué)家。在我退出職業(yè)生涯后，尋找古老的生活智慧：

生活就像故事一樣，不在乎長(zhǎng)度，而在于質(zhì)量。這才是問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵。

我在此祝大家生活愉快！非常感謝Thank you!

參考鏈接： 英文原稿和視頻on http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imaginati大意翻譯全文翻譯中文視頻

http://sl.iciba.com/viewthread-58-463494-1.shtml

http://v.blog.sohu.com/u/vw/1398971

第五篇：jk羅琳哈佛大學(xué)演講及其翻譯

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 have 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 Gryffindor reunion.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, the 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 come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock.Achievable goals: the first step to self 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 have 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 may 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 would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.So they 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 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.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.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 that 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 then 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 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 the price of 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 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 people 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.Now 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 personally 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 at the African 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 speak against their governments.Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had left 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 back 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 had to give 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 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 leads 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 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 change.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, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took 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.福斯特主席、哈佛同仁和監(jiān)察委員會(huì)的各位員工，各位老師，家長(zhǎng)、同學(xué)們:

首先請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我說(shuō)一聲謝謝。哈佛給予我的不僅僅是無(wú)上的榮譽(yù)，還有連日來(lái)因?yàn)橐幌氲竭@個(gè)演講，帶來(lái)的恐懼以及恐懼導(dǎo)致的陣陣惡心讓我減肥成功。這真是一個(gè) 雙贏的局面?，F(xiàn)在我要做的就是深呼吸，瞇著眼睛看著眼前的大紅橫幅，安慰自己只是在世界上最大的矮人大會(huì)上。發(fā)表畢業(yè)演說(shuō)是一個(gè)巨大的責(zé)任，我的思緒一下 子回到自己的畢業(yè)典禮上。那天做報(bào)告的是英國(guó)著名的哲學(xué)家Baroness Mary Warnock，通過(guò)對(duì)她的演講的回憶對(duì)我寫今天的演講稿給予了極大地幫助。因?yàn)槲也挥浀盟f(shuō)過(guò)的任何一句話了，這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我釋然，讓我不再有任何恐懼。我可能會(huì)無(wú)意中影響你，放棄在商業(yè)、法律或政治等有前途的職業(yè)而為眩暈的愉悅成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)的魔法師。你們都明白，如果在若干年后您還記得'快樂(lè)的魔法師' 這個(gè)笑話，說(shuō)明我已經(jīng)超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。

可實(shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)：個(gè)人提高的第一步。其實(shí)，我為今天應(yīng)該告訴你們什么已經(jīng)殫精竭慮了。我曾問(wèn)自己：我從畢業(yè)到現(xiàn)在的這些年里，學(xué)到和了解了什么重要的教訓(xùn)。我已想出了兩個(gè)答案。在這個(gè)美好的一天，當(dāng)我們正聚集在一起慶祝您畢業(yè)的時(shí)刻，我已決定與你們談?wù)勈〉暮锰?；另一方面，你們站?現(xiàn)實(shí)生活'的門檻上，我要歌頌至關(guān)重要的想象力。這些似乎是不切實(shí)際或似是而非的選擇，但請(qǐng)?jiān)徫摇Ｗ屢粋€(gè)已經(jīng)42歲的人回顧在她21歲畢業(yè)時(shí)情景，是個(gè)讓人有點(diǎn)不舒服的經(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)我的期望兩者之間取得平衡。我一直深信我唯一想做的事----寫小說(shuō)。不過(guò)，我的父母兩人都來(lái)自貧窮的背景，而且沒(méi) 有任何一人上過(guò)大學(xué)。他們都堅(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，絕不可支付按揭或保證安穩(wěn)的退休金。他們希望我拿到一個(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位?？晌蚁雽W(xué)習(xí)英語(yǔ)文學(xué)。最終達(dá)成了一個(gè)折衷的意見(jiàn)，現(xiàn)在想起來(lái)仍不令人滿意，最終，我去學(xué)習(xí)現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言。幾乎剛把車停在路盡頭的墻角（譯者加指去校報(bào)道），我放棄了德 語(yǔ)并逃到古典文學(xué)的殿堂。我不記得是否告訴我的父母我是學(xué)習(xí)古典文學(xué)的。也許他們很可能在我畢業(yè)那天才第一次發(fā)現(xiàn)我的專業(yè)是什么。在這個(gè)星球上的所有科目 里，我想他們會(huì)認(rèn)為再?zèng)]有比希臘神話學(xué)更糟糕的了。

我想澄清一下：我不會(huì)因?yàn)樗麄兊挠^點(diǎn)而責(zé)怪我的父母。埋怨父母給你指錯(cuò)方向是有時(shí)間段的。當(dāng)你長(zhǎng)到自己可以掌握方向時(shí)，你就要自己承擔(dān)責(zé)任了。尤其是，我不會(huì)因?yàn)樽约合Ｍ灰?jīng)歷貧窮而責(zé)怪我的父母。他們是貧窮的，我也一直很貧窮。貧困帶來(lái)的恐懼，壓力有時(shí)是絕望，這意味著屈辱和苦難。用您自己的努力擺 脫貧困這確實(shí)是一件對(duì)自己而言驕傲的事情。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)年齡時(shí)，最害怕的不是貧窮，而是失敗。像你們這樣大時(shí)，我明顯缺乏在大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的動(dòng)力。我花了太久在咖啡吧寫故事，而在課堂的時(shí)間就很少了。我 有一個(gè)通過(guò)考試的訣竅，并且數(shù)年間一直認(rèn)為我的生活在我的同齡人中是成功的現(xiàn)在。我不愚蠢假設(shè)因?yàn)槟銈兊哪贻p，天才和受過(guò)良好教育就從來(lái)沒(méi)有困難或心碎的 時(shí)刻。才華和智商從來(lái)不會(huì)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)大家都坐這里冷靜地滿足于自身的優(yōu)越感。但從哈佛畢業(yè)的事實(shí)表明，你們對(duì)失敗不熟悉。害 怕失敗像渴望成功一樣強(qiáng)烈。事實(shí)上，您對(duì)失敗的理解可能和普通人對(duì)成功的看法不會(huì)太遠(yuǎn)。因?yàn)槟銈円呀?jīng)站在如此之高的位置。最終，我們所有人都必須自己決定 什么構(gòu)成失敗，但如果你愿意，世界是相當(dāng)渴望給你一套標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的。因而我可以公平地講，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，我的失敗就達(dá)到了空 前的規(guī)模：一個(gè)異常短暫的破裂的婚姻、失業(yè)、一個(gè)單親家長(zhǎng)，像在現(xiàn)代英國(guó)的窮人一樣，只是還沒(méi)有到無(wú)家可歸的地步罷了。眼前時(shí)刻浮現(xiàn)著父母和自己對(duì)未來(lái)的 擔(dān)心。按照慣常的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)看，我是我所見(jiàn)過(guò)的最大的失敗者?，F(xiàn)在，我不打算站在這里告訴你失敗是好玩的，我的那段生活經(jīng)歷是困窘不堪的；我更不知道新聞媒體 所說(shuō)的童話故事般的革命；我也不知道那種困苦要持續(xù)多久；在相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間里，任何盡頭的光明都只是一個(gè)希望而不是現(xiàn)實(shí)。

那么，為什么我要談?wù)撌〉暮锰幠?？只是因?yàn)槭∫馕吨鴦冸x你不必需的東西。我不是在偽裝自己，我只是直接把所有精力放在最重要的工作上。如果我不是沒(méi) 有在其他領(lǐng)域成功過(guò)，我可能絕不會(huì)有在真正屬于自己的舞臺(tái)上取得成功的決心。我獲得了自由，因?yàn)槲易詈ε碌囊呀?jīng)發(fā)生了，但是我還活著，我還有一個(gè)我深愛(ài)著 的女兒，還有一個(gè)舊打字機(jī)和一個(gè)大創(chuàng)意（指寫哈利波特）。所以困境的谷底成為我重建生活的堅(jiān)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。你可能永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)有我這種失敗的經(jīng)歷，但有些失敗，在生 活中是不可避免的。毫無(wú)挫折的生活是不存在，除非你生活的萬(wàn)般小心，可有些失敗還是會(huì)發(fā)生。失敗讓我內(nèi)心安全，是我從通過(guò)考試中沒(méi)有得到過(guò)的。失敗教會(huì)我 一些不能用其他方法獲得的東西，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有堅(jiān)強(qiáng)的意志，比想象中還多的原則，我也發(fā)現(xiàn)我擁有朋友----他們的價(jià)值遠(yuǎn)在紅寶石之上。從挫折中得到知識(shí)將 使你更加明智和堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，也就是說(shuō)您比以往任何時(shí)候更有能力生存。你從來(lái)沒(méi)有真正認(rèn)識(shí)自己，或通過(guò)逆境的檢驗(yàn)認(rèn)識(shí)到您的朋友的力量，直到兩者經(jīng)受逆境的考驗(yàn)。對(duì)所有人而言，這種認(rèn)知是一個(gè)真正的禮物。這是痛苦的勝利比我取得的任何資格有著更高的價(jià)值。給我一部時(shí)間機(jī)器，我會(huì)告訴21歲的自己：個(gè)人的幸福在于知道生命是不是一個(gè)獲得或取得的核對(duì)清單。你的資歷、簡(jiǎn)歷，都不 是你的生活，雖然你會(huì)遇到很多人和我同齡或者更老一點(diǎn)的人依然混淆兩者。生活是困難的，復(fù)雜的，超出任何人的控制。謙恭地認(rèn)識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)將使你歷經(jīng)滄桑后能 夠更好的生存。

你可能會(huì)認(rèn)為我選擇了我的第二個(gè)主題：想象力的重要性因?yàn)檫@是重建我生活的一部分。但事實(shí)并非完全如此，雖然我永遠(yuǎn)捍衛(wèi)睡前故事的價(jià)值，我已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)了想 象擁有的更廣泛的意義。想象力不僅是人類獨(dú)具能力：設(shè)想還不存在的事物是所有發(fā)明和創(chuàng)新的源泉。這種改造和揭露的能力，使我們能夠?qū)ψ约何唇?jīng)歷的苦難者產(chǎn) 生同理心。其中一個(gè)影響最大的經(jīng)歷在我寫哈利波特的生活之前，但大部分是在我隨后寫的那些書里。這個(gè)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。在我的小辦公室，我看到了人們?cè)诖颐χ袑懙男?，這些信是從極權(quán) 主義政權(quán)那里偷運(yùn)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。我看到那些無(wú)跡可尋的人的照片-----由他們的家人和朋友鋌 而走險(xiǎn)地送到大赦國(guó)際來(lái)的。我看過(guò)拷問(wèn)受害者的證詞和被害的照片，我也讀過(guò)筆跡、目擊證人的供詞以及即決審判和處決的綁架和*犯的檔案。我有很多的合作者 是前政治犯，他們已離開(kāi)家園流離失所，或逃亡流放，因?yàn)樗麄兇竽懙貞岩烧拿裰鲉?wèn)題。來(lái)我們辦公室的訪客有告密者以及想了解迫害真相的人。

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)比我還小的年輕男子，他因在故鄉(xiāng)的悲慘經(jīng)歷導(dǎo)致精神錯(cuò)亂。當(dāng)他 在攝像機(jī)前講述被殘暴的摧殘的時(shí)候，他顫抖失控。他比我稍高一點(diǎn)，但當(dāng)時(shí)看來(lái)卻像個(gè)脆弱的孩童。后來(lái)，我被安排護(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!

并且只要我還活著，我就會(huì)記得走過(guò)一個(gè)空蕩蕩的的走廊。突然從背后的門里傳來(lái)我從未聽(tīng)過(guò)的尖叫的痛苦和恐懼，門打開(kāi)了，研究員探出她的頭告訴我為坐在她 旁邊的青年男子，調(diào)一杯熱飲料。他剛被告知消息：為了報(bào)復(fù)他對(duì)國(guó)家政權(quán)的批評(píng)，他母親已被捕并執(zhí)行了槍決。在我20多歲的時(shí)候，我工作的每一天，都在提醒 我是多么的幸運(yùn)。生活在一個(gè)民選政府的國(guó)家，律師和公開(kāi)審理，是每個(gè)人的權(quán)利。每天我都能看到很多有關(guān)惡人的證據(jù)，他們?yōu)榱双@得或維持權(quán)力而對(duì)自己的同胞 所犯下的暴行。我開(kāi)始做噩夢(mèng)，都和我的所見(jiàn)所聞?dòng)嘘P(guān)，并且我也了解到更多關(guān)于人類的善良。在國(guó)際特赦組織學(xué)到的比以前多得多。大赦動(dòng)員成千上萬(wàn)有自由信仰 的人，去為那些因信仰而遭遇不幸的人奔走抗?fàn)?。人類同理心的力量，引發(fā)的集體拯救生命的行動(dòng)，釋放囚犯。眾多幸福安康的普通百姓，攜手合作挽救那些素不相 識(shí)或再也不能相逢的人。這在道德上是中立的，是我生命中一段最謙恭和發(fā)人深省的生活經(jīng)歷。

不同于這個(gè)星球上的任何其他生物，人類可以學(xué)習(xí)理解未經(jīng)歷過(guò)的 東西。他們可以設(shè)身處地為別人著想當(dāng)然，這是一種能力就像我虛構(gòu)的魔法世界一樣。這在道德上也是中立的。一個(gè)人可能會(huì)利用這種能力去操縱、或控制，但也有 很多人選擇去了解或同情。很多人一點(diǎn)也不喜歡鍛煉自己的想象力，他們選擇待在舒適的生活范圍內(nèi)，從來(lái)不麻煩地去想想如果自己出生在別處一切會(huì)怎么樣。他們 拒絕聽(tīng)到尖叫聲或向籠子里窺視，他們可以封閉自己的內(nèi)心。只要痛苦不觸及他們個(gè)人，他們可以拒絕去了解。我可能會(huì)因誘惑而嫉妒那樣生活的人，除了我不認(rèn)為 他們會(huì)比我少做噩夢(mèng)。選擇住在狹窄的空間可導(dǎo)致某種形式的精神廣場(chǎng)恐懼癥，并給自己帶來(lái)恐懼感。我認(rèn)為不想看到更多怪物的人，他們常常更害怕。更甚的是，那些選擇不同情的人可能激活真正的怪獸，因?yàn)槲覀冏约簺](méi)有嚴(yán)懲邪惡，冷漠與無(wú)視卻讓我們犯下了邪惡的共謀罪。

在21歲時(shí)，我從古典文學(xué)中學(xué)到很多知識(shí)。其中之一我所不明白的是，希臘作家普魯塔克所說(shuō)的：我們內(nèi)心的實(shí)現(xiàn)將改變外在現(xiàn)實(shí)。那是一個(gè)多么驚人的論斷，并在我們生活的每天被無(wú)數(shù)次論證。這在某種程度上表明，我們與外部世界有逃不掉的瓜葛。事實(shí)上，我們以自己的存在來(lái)接觸其他人的生命。但哈佛大學(xué)的級(jí)的畢 業(yè)生們，你們中的多少人會(huì)去觸及他人的生命呢？

你們的智慧、努力工作的能力以及所受的教育將給予你們獨(dú)特的地位和責(zé)任。即使您的國(guó)籍把你與別人分開(kāi)了，你們絕大部份仍屬 于世界上僅存的超級(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，你們給自己的政府帶來(lái)的壓力，其影響力將超越你們的國(guó)界，這是你們的特權(quán)，也 是你們的負(fù)擔(dān)。

如果您選擇使用您的地位和影響力去代表那些沒(méi)有發(fā)言權(quán)的人，發(fā)出聲音；

如果您不僅去幫助強(qiáng)者，而且還會(huì)同情并幫扶弱者； 如果你會(huì)設(shè)身處地為不如你的人著想；

那么，您的存在將不僅是你家族的驕傲，也是無(wú)數(shù)因你幫助而過(guò)上幸福生活的人的驕傲。我們不需要魔法來(lái)改變世界，我們已經(jīng)擁有了需要的所有的力量。我們有能力想象會(huì)更好。

我的演講也接近尾聲了。對(duì)你們，我有最后一個(gè)希望，也是我在21歲時(shí)就一直在思考的。畢業(yè)那天坐在我身邊的朋友將是我終身的朋友。他們是我的孩子的教父 母，是我在遇到麻煩是可以求助的人，是當(dāng)我用他們的姓名作為食死徒的名字而不會(huì)起訴我的朋友（譯者注：食死徒是哈利波特中人物在此指羅琳的朋友不會(huì)因?yàn)樗?用他們的名字而遭起訴）。

在我們畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，我們因無(wú)盡的愛(ài)而在此相聚。我們有共同的永不再有的經(jīng)歷。當(dāng)然，如果我們中的任何人競(jìng)選首相，那么今天的照片將是極為寶貴的證明。所以，今天我可以給你們的，沒(méi)有比同伴的友誼更好的祝福了。

明天，我希望你們即使記不得我的名字，你還記得那些塞內(nèi)加，他是我在羅馬文學(xué)著作中結(jié)識(shí)的另一位哲學(xué)家。在我退出職業(yè)生涯后，尋找古老的生活智慧： 生活就像故事一樣，不在乎長(zhǎng)度，而在于質(zhì)量。這才是問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵。我在此祝大家生活愉快！非常感謝Thank you!