Author: J.K. Rowling
Genre: Essay, Speech
Pages: 74
“When J.K. Rowling was invited to deliver the commencement address at Harvard University, she chose to speak to the graduating class about two topics very close to her heart: the benefits of failure and the importance of imagination. Having the courage to fail, she said, is as vital to a good life as any conventional measure of success; imagining ourselves into the place of another–particularly someone less fortunate than ourselves–is a uniquely human quality to be nurtured at all costs.
The stories Rowling shared and the provocative questions she asked of those young graduates have since inspired countless others to consider what it means to live a “good life.” Now in print for the first time, her words serve as both a comfort and a call to arms for anyone–of any age–who finds themselves at a turning point. In daring to take a risk, and perhaps fail, and by harnessing the power of our imaginations, we can all begin to live less cautiously and, in doing so, become more open to the opportunities life has to offer.” -Goodreads
Review:
So to start off, this isn’t a review, if you were hoping for my well crafted at 11 o’clock at night, sleep deprived, marvelous, train wrecks I call reviews then you will surely be disappointed. While I am calling it a review and am going to treat this paragraph like a review (and I still am writing this in the middle of the night), I am merely going to show you a few lines of the book that really spoke to me. It was a small book. And when I mean small book, I mean it was 5 inches tall, centimeter thick, barely the size of my hand. But, I don’t want to do a review because there is nothing to do a review on. It is a speech my favorite author wrote that was put into book form. I loved it and she gave good points/lines/words/idk. Also the illustrations are beautiful. I wanted to highlight the words that really spoke to me. It was a really inspiring read. Go check it out. It was AMAZING. I mean its J.K. Rowling, how could it not be good? Anyways this is the end of my paragraph review. Now sit back enjoy some quotes and go live your life well.
Quotes from the story:
“And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
“The moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.”
“But I feared at your age was not poverty, but failure…”
“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.”
“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.”
Star rating: 4.0
Take these words to heart she meant them for you!