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She Set the Gold Standard

Filed under: Inspiration > Harry Potter

jkrowling1.jpg

On Thursday, Harry Potter mastermind J.K. Rowling delivered a hard-to-top commencement address titled The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination at a graduation event at Harvard.

You can read the entire address here.

Her words took our breath away.

“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,“ Rowling told the newly minted Harvard alums.

Moving. Inspirational. So heartfelt.

Now if only she'd stop suing everyone!

[Image via WENN.]

Posted: June 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm

81 comments to “She Set the Gold Standard”

  1. cat says – reply to this


    1

    first

  2. G says – reply to this


    2

    Show them how it's done JK! :)

    First?

  3. kim says – reply to this


    3

    blah blah blah….

  4. austin says – reply to this


    4

    Watch the video, it's better.

    I love her, she can sue me anytime. She does have the right to defend her hard work and copyrighted material.

  5. sara says – reply to this


    5

    she's protecting her intellectual property rights and copyrights. if people try to rip her off she has all the right in the world to sue to protect her property. more power to her.

  6. The Ba says – reply to this


    6

    Re: cat –
    Why? Just, why?

  7. amak15 says – reply to this


    7

    ass

  8. wootie says – reply to this


    8

    awesome! Congrats JK!

  9. Chriss says – reply to this


    9

    4th!

  10. joejoe says – reply to this


    10

    great words, and if they REALLY moved you, why don't you take them to heart and try to do some good, rather than contributing to the negativity in this society, and bullying of people, and making people feel bad because they don't live up to ridiculous "standards" that don't even make sense. You're a hypocrite. I would have more respect for you — even with your negativity — if you had a consistent position on things.

  11. Chaunc says – reply to this


    11

    Seventh!

  12. ted says – reply to this


    12

    Re: sara – Well Perez makes a living off taking content from others so of course he would be against her suing to protect her own.

  13. Juue says – reply to this


    13

    J.K.R is (my) God.

  14. alex s says – reply to this


    14

    haha. "now only if she'd stop suing everyone!" hysterical.

  15. Alice says – reply to this


    15

    Congratulations on being "first". Huge achievement right there…

  16. Ally says – reply to this


    16

    My friend graduated at that ceremony!

  17. eric says – reply to this


    17

    Look who is talking about suing everyone, you fat piece of turd. You are suing a few folks too.. for um, LAME reasons. (publicity??) She is protecting her intellectual property rights.. soory for using such long words, you fat, oily-faced loser.

  18. K says – reply to this


    18

    What a beautiful speech, thank you for posting this.

  19. kately says – reply to this


    19

    SHE DIDN'T SUE warner brothers did.
    DUH, PEREZ, DUH.

  20. katie says – reply to this


    20

    aww i love her.
    i've been reading harry potter 1-7 again this week.
    actually the best books ever written. x

  21. harvar says – reply to this


    21

    I was there - it was incredible - watch the video - her delivery was amaaaazing!

  22. Daphnà says – reply to this


    22

    It was such an amazing and moving speech, she made me cry…Her word were so touching…I arrived late at my work just to watch her speech on the internet!
    She is such a genius, I admire her so much! GO JO!

  23. Kim says – reply to this


    23

    you are MOVED by her words, PEREZ?

    What do you contribute to the world besides calling people whores and home-wreckers and drawing dicks on people?

  24. Hopefu says – reply to this


    24

    What a beautiful speech….
    Thanks for posting it!

    Cheers!

  25. sara says – reply to this


    25
  26. Steph says – reply to this


    26

    She's my hero.

    Absolutely brilliant, more power to her. If she has to file lawsuits in order to protect what's rightfully hers, so be it. These scumbags shouldn't get away with it just because she's been criticized for suing in the past. She's written one of the most powerful and influential series in history, of course everyone wants a piece of it. People should expect her to have to sue a lot because so many try to take advantage of her creativity. I'll support her no matter what.

  27. Alex says – reply to this


    27

    I saw the entire speech. She was incredible!! It was very inspiring.

  28. Novel1 says – reply to this


    28

    She talks about Amnesty and torture - then makes the statement, "We can imagine better." (a better world?) Sounds like sticking your head in the sand to me, Not inspirational at all. Merely escapism. You can sit all day in your room and imagine bad things don't happen. It's the people out there, doing something, that keep the world real and precious. Don't IMAGINE - DO!

  29. ginger says – reply to this


    29

    Amazing truely beautiful~

  30. Jennif says – reply to this


    30

    Thank you for sharing that…it was truly wonderful!

  31. demian says – reply to this


    31

    wonderful speech! i was there and it moved me and my friends to tears.

  32. Uker says – reply to this


    32

    THAT WAS AMAZING.

  33. rose says – reply to this


    33

    oh shut up Perez! She's a great woman

  34. me says – reply to this


    34

    J.K. Rowling has done it again.

    When I was 13 she opened my eyes to an amazing world where anything was possible and made me desperate in anticipation for more.

    When I was 22, two weeks removed from my college gradution and scared about my future, she brought tears to my eyes and reminded me that it is okay to be afraid of failure…and at the same time how important it can be.

    Thank you for everything you have done Ms. Rowling.

  35. lh says – reply to this


    35

    We have the power to sue everyone! Thanks J.K.

  36. Martin says – reply to this


    36

    She is an inspiration to us all.

  37. andrea says – reply to this


    37

    shes an example to be followed, I admire her so much

  38. MADRAS says – reply to this


    38

    LISTEN TO THE SPEECH ***** IT'S MUCH FUNNIER IF YOU HEAR HER DELIVERY*****IT'S AT HARVARD.ORG ****EXCELLENT- I AGREE WITH GOLD STANDARD THOUGHT

  39. Jay says – reply to this


    39

    Re: sara –
    I agree with Sara!!



  40. 40

    Fuck harry potter!

  41. M says – reply to this


    41

    Thank you for this Perez, this is the best link you have ever posted!

  42. AmyDJ says – reply to this


    42

    That speech was very well done. She didn't talk about herself too much, which some college graduate speakers *cough mine* do. I like how she talked about friendship and failures - two things you wouldn't expect to hear at a Harvard speech. (I would've been tempted to say, "Congratulations; you're very wealthy.") And you got to respect anyone who opens with a gay wizard joke!

  43. jules says – reply to this


    43

    Pedestal rises beyond the top!
    God bless you JK!
    Your speech will go down in history too! THank you!

  44. jules says – reply to this


    44

    Re: Novel1 – u need a therapist, cause you are crazy!

  45. DANNY says – reply to this


    45

    J.K. Rowling has every right to sue over people infringing on her copyright. And she's obliged to. If she stops suing infringer's then that leaves the door open for countless others to rip her off, potentially letting her work become public domain. You have to protect your work as hard as you can to let people know hat you are serious and will fight them. Why is her right a problem to you Perez?

  46. vety f says – reply to this


    46

    she can sue me anytime. she's brilliant and truly someone to look up to. Her speech was beautiful and inspiring to non-graduates as well.

  47. Jess says – reply to this


    47

    That speech segment is just a rip-off of one of Neil Gaiman's Sandman stories.

    A CAT SAYS ALMOST THE EXACT SAME WORDS.

    Gawd.

  48. observ says – reply to this


    48

    Now THAT was one brilliant speech.

  49. Randi says – reply to this


    49

    Excellent message, got me all misty at the end. :) I like her.

  50. Vaness says – reply to this


    50

    Thank you for this story…I wish something this meaningful was said at MY graduation.

  51. sset says – reply to this


    51

    i loved what she said. she brought the whole piece together well. loved the part obout failing and failing by default. everyone needs to read this speech.

  52. lindsa says – reply to this


    52

    yea I WAS THERE it was INCREDIBLE!!! i will soon put up the conclusion on youtube

  53. katie says – reply to this


    53

    i was there and it was such a great speech
    she was open, honest, and funny, saying that she thanked harvard for inviting her because she lost weight due to nerves

  54. Christ says – reply to this


    54

    Thanks so much, Perez, for sharing this. I really appreciate it.

  55. Kimber says – reply to this


    55

    nice post perez

  56. gabs says – reply to this


    56

    that was an amazing speech, i was there for the winthrop commencement ceremony at harvard, so i was able to hear it.

  57. harvar says – reply to this


    57

    I WAS THERE! It was the best speech of all of the Class Day and Commencement speeches by far, it was truly incredible. Especially because she followed a speech by Harvard president Drew Faust that was truly awful. But everything about JK's speech was incredible- her modesty, beautiful delivery, humor, and inspirational words.

  58. Gia says – reply to this


    58

    She's so full of fucking bullshit! That bitch is FAKE FAKE FAKE! Her books suck. Complete trash. People are retarded for reading that crap.



  59. 59

    Re: Gia –

    Your opinion is rude and entirely unnecessary. JK is absolutely amazing and has inspired millions to aspire to be great and do what they believe is right for them. Can you say the same about yourself?

  60. Daphnà says – reply to this


    60

    Gia : Why don't you come back when you have done half as good as JK Rowling had?

  61. mads says – reply to this


    61

    oprah is speaking at stanford's graduation next sunday. i'm pretty sure she can top jk rowling.

  62. Jwo says – reply to this


    62

    thanks for that, P. I wish you a very well life.

  63. BryGuy says – reply to this


    63

    And, when did YOU graduate from Harvard, Mario???

  64. GV says – reply to this


    64

    Here's an address that tops her's: web.mit.edu. There are a number of links to graduation-related stuff, including MIT commencement speaker Muhammad Yunus' speech. As much as I love the Harry Potter books and as much good as they have done, Rowling doesn't compare to Yunus.

  65. Kate says – reply to this


    65

    Aww! That's a sweet thing to say at graduation! COME TO MY GRADUATION, JK!

  66. Jerie says – reply to this


    66

    Re: austin – AMEN

  67. LuLu says – reply to this


    67

    yeah, well if people would just stop trying to rip her off and invade her privacy
    she wouldn't HAVE to sue!

  68. flipar says – reply to this


    68

    That was great - watch the video.

  69. Aaron says – reply to this


    69

    Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

  70. To Joe says – reply to this


    70

    You must like it or you wouldn't be here. If you have a problem with what Perez does, then close your browser and stop reading.

  71. Ariell says – reply to this


    71

    I was there for my sister's graduation… it was so inspirational and by far the best speech of the day! What another fabulous way to make me love her!

  72. sunnyd says – reply to this


    72

    That is the best speech ever. JK for president. The woman is a genius. A real role model for women everywhere. And god knows there ain't many of those around…

  73. Indian says – reply to this


    73

    thank u for sharing this perez…

  74. daleho says – reply to this


    74

    WONDERFUL! More Comencement addresses Mr.P. I'm a teacherand the youngin's need all the inspiration their dopey little souls can stand.

  75. amydaw says – reply to this


    75

    Thank You Perez for posting these wise words!

  76. musie says – reply to this


    76

    I had the pleasure of being there, and I spent half of the ceremony in tears. It was truly one of the most inspirational speeches I've ever had the privilege of hearing, and it was amazing. I'm so very impressed by her.

  77. indian says – reply to this


    77

    Re: Alice – hahahahahahahahahahahahaha….i love u alice….."congratulations on being first… great achievement"……hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

  78. chloe says – reply to this


    78

    I was there, and it was incredible. I got goosebumps.

  79. Amara says – reply to this


    79

    Good post Perez, everyone should read or watch this.

  80. alpha says – reply to this


    80

    it is very good. i like it.

  81. Janie says – reply to this


    81

    J K rules!