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She Set the Gold Standard

Filed under: Inspiration > Harry Potter

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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: Jun 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm / Email this  »
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    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!