“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.”

— J.K. Rowling, Harvard University commencement speech, 2008

About J.K. Rowling

Born 1965

British author of the 'Harry Potter' series, who gave the Harvard commencement address 'The Fringe Benefits of Failure' in 2008.

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.”

“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies; but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.”

“Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.”

Attribution note: Source disputed or unverified.

“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

“A whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end.”

“Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation.”

“All becoming and growing—all that guarantees a future—involves pain.”

“The name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.”

“Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning.”