
J.K. Rowling: The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination - markbao
http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination
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randy
An oldie but a great speech (old HN discussion here:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=211832>). For anyone who's interested,
here are some other extraordinary commencement speeches:

Steve Jobs: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc>

Bill Watterson: <http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm>

David Foster Wallace: <http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html>

There is a lot of good advice and numerous great sound-bytes from all of
these; but one of my personal favorites comes from Bill Watterson, who makes a
point that I feel often gets overlooked at HN in our relentless pursuit of
success:

 _Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare
achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the
good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an
eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to
the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding
job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities
is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home
and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential ― as if
a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You'll be told in
a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be
satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a
million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I
think you'll be happier for the trouble._

~~~
david927
That's an amazing quote. Thanks.

------
ahoyhere
This essay was the driving reason I created and ran failcamp(.org).

It's true: the most valuable lesson is not what you learn directly from your
mistakes, but by realizing what you are capable of overcoming.

After my catastrophic financial failure I, too, am confident in my abilities
and no longer worry.

