
JK Rowling's Commencement speech at Harvard - ashwinl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pucdJHjZaqs
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ashwinl
"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. You might
never fail on the same 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 have not lived at all. In which case, you
failed by default."

~~~
culley
wow. I wrote that same passage down, and this one: "There is an expiration
date for blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction."

~~~
boredguy8
The best aphorism was cleverly hidden amidst a joke: "Achievable goals: the
first step towards personal improvement." Remember her point: the 'crucial
importance of imagination' is not quixotic. Too many people I know like to
'dream the impossible dream', and that's just how far they get.

Another I liked: "Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you
will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two."

A very well done speech, and a quite decent speaker.

~~~
ig1
It reminded me very much of the line from fight club: "You're not your job.
You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive.
You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're
the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world. "

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thinkcomp
As a recent Harvard graduate who was disappointed in his University President
(Larry Summers) and his commencement speaker (Tim Russert), I can say I was
really thrilled to hear both Faust's and Rowling's speech. Both were truly
excellent, but Rowling's was particularly relevant to her audience given the
tendencies of Harvard seniors to view life as a race to the top of Goldman
Sachs. Harry Potter aside, Rowling continues to impress me as an amazing
person and a model for entrepreneurs. For example, want to know who gets good
contract terms? Look at J.K. Rowling. Want to see someone who knows how to
control the media? J.K. Rowling once more. She's very understated, hasn't
destroyed anyone's livelihood, and yet she's immensely successful (and still
down-to-earth). I hope to be like her one day.

~~~
huhtenberg
If only she would've not turned poor Albus gay ..

(edit) What I mean is that she should've not gone into elaborating on this
subject at all. It would've been equally damaging if she would've called him a
"ladies man" or a "sex bomb". It's a type of a character detail that I think
is better not to be discussed explicitly. Not for this particular character.

I don't know about other people, but this comment of hers did spoil the
reading of the last book for me.

~~~
ken
"It's like her stupid, self-serving claim that Dumbledore was gay. She wants
credit for being very up-to-date and politically correct - but she didn't have
the guts to put that supposed "fact" into the actual novels, knowing that it
might hurt sales. What a pretentious, puffed-up coward. When I have a gay
character in my fiction, I say so right in the book. I don't wait until after
it has had all its initial sales to mention it."

\-- Orson Scott Card,
<[http://www.linearpublishing.com/RhinoStory.html>](http://www.linearpublishing.com/RhinoStory.html>);

~~~
Xichekolas
The books in the Ender series are my favorite books, and I have never read the
Harry Potter books, so I must ask those who have, is his description of the
parallels between the two series correct?

> _"A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns
> that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who
> are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is
> dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this
> kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader. He trains
> other kids in unauthorized extra sessions, which enrages his enemies, who
> attack him with the intention of killing him; but he is protected by his
> loyal, brilliant friends and gains strength from the love of some of his
> family members. He is given special guidance by an older man of legendary
> accomplishments who previously kept the enemy at bay. He goes on to become
> the crucial figure in a struggle against an unseen enemy who threatens the
> whole world."_

If so, that is both amusing and relieving. Since I know Ender backwords and
forwards, I can save myself the time reading Harry Potter.

Regardless of the lady and her tactics in the publishing business, you have to
admit this is quite a good speech. When I first saw it at the top, I thought
to myself: "holy crap why is this on HN?" But after watching it, I can't help
thinking how nice it was to have my optimism needle bumped up a notch.

~~~
nostrademons
It's accurate, but he's cherry-picking events from both books to illustrate
his points. The above description could be Ursula LeGuin's _Wizard of
Earthsea_ series as well. Hell, Orson Scott Card stole the ansible from
LeGuin's Hainish novels.

Without the school aspect, it could be Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Without
the flying in mid-air, it could be Tamora Pierce's _Circle of Magic_ books or
Sherwood Smith's _Wren's Quest_ series.

~~~
rory096
From the article: "It's true that we writers borrow words from each other ?
but we're supposed to admit it and not pretend we're original when we're not.
I took the word ansible from Ursula K. LeGuin, and have always said so.
Rowling, however, denies everything."

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mhartl
_Your conception of failure might not be too far removed from the average
person's idea of success._

She hit that nail on the head. And it goes not just for the Harvard graduates
in the audience; a lot of people at Hacker News could 'settle' for a life most
people would envy. It's nice to be reminded of that from time to time.

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seiji
NPR story about some students not being pleased with the choice of speaker:
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9123254...](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91232541&ft=1&f=1001)

~~~
dill_day
"They'll grow up," says 1983 graduate David Epstein. "They'll have a broader
worldview and they'll understand that there are many, many ways to contribute.
You know what they say — the freshman bring so much, and the seniors take away
so little."

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raju
A great message. Most of us invariably get caught in the rat race, every
action merely one to make out CV's better, and the number on the monthly check
higher. Though what makes us humans, and good people is not the ability to buy
a bigger house, or have our names in the headlines of the week, but the
capacity to reach out - reach out to those who need us, and to make the world
a better place for all of us.

Thank you, JK Rowling. And thank you, ashwinl.

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nsrivast
Proud that two articles on the front page are about Harvard's commencement, I
might suggest president Drew Faust's address:

[http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/faust/080605_comms...](http://www.president.harvard.edu/speeches/faust/080605_commspeech.html)

It's long, but argues a controversial point well.

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mamama
Not as good as "Larry Ellison's speech" at Yale:

<http://www.snopes.com/quotes/ellison.asp>

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babul
I like the message, similar to the pg essay regarding education, that your
education and CV is not everything.

In a culture geared towards materialism and success defined by job status and
the like, I often feel this is lost.

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ericb
Has anyone else noticed with each passing year JK Rowling looks younger? It's
amazing what a billion dollars buys!

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astine
Well said. I'm impressed.

