ENGLISH SPEECH | JK ROWLING: The Benefits Of Failure (English Subtitles)

Summary

The speaker reflects on their own life experiences to share two key lessons with Harvard graduates: the value of failure and the power of imagination. They recount personal struggles, including poverty and career setbacks, which ultimately led to success by stripping away the non-essential and focusing on their true passion. Additionally, the speaker emphasizes empathy as a transformative force, enabling people to change the world through collective action. They conclude with advice on personal fulfillment and lasting friendships, urging graduates to use their education and privilege responsibly.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Expressing gratitude to Harvard for the honor and acknowledging the nervousness of giving the commencement speech.
• 😂 Humorous reference to the speech being a 'Gryffindor reunion' and lighthearted self-deprecation.
• 😅 Reflection on forgetting the commencement speech from their own graduation, emphasizing realistic goals.
• 📚 The importance of failure as a learning experience, especially in contrast to the high achievements of graduates.
• 💡 Emphasizing the value of imagination in both personal growth and empathizing with others' experiences.
• 🧠 Sharing personal failures and struggles, such as a failed marriage and poverty, and how these experiences shaped their life.
• 🌱 The lessons learned from failure, such as developing resilience, discipline, and true friendship.
• 🌍 Discussing empathy and the power of imagination to understand and help those in less fortunate circumstances.
• 👥 The responsibility of using one's privilege, intelligence, and status to improve the world and support the powerless.
• 🤝 Ending with the wish for lifelong friendships formed during graduation, alongside a quote about the quality of life being more important than its length.

Q & A

What does the speaker express gratitude for at the beginning of the speech?

The speaker thanks Harvard for the honor of being invited to give the commencement address and humorously mentions the weight loss caused by her fear of public speaking.

What humorous analogy does the speaker make about Harvard’s commencement ceremony?

The speaker jokes that she will pretend she is at the world’s largest Gryffindor reunion to cope with the pressure of giving the commencement address.

What realization about her own graduation speaker does the speaker share?

The speaker recalls that she cannot remember a single word from her graduation speaker’s address, which liberates her from the pressure of trying to give a memorable speech.

What two main themes does the speaker decide to focus on in the speech?

The speaker chooses to talk about the benefits of failure and the crucial importance of imagination.

Why does the speaker consider failure to be beneficial?

The speaker explains that failure strips away the inessential and forces one to focus on what truly matters, helping build inner security, resilience, and self-awareness.

How does the speaker describe her own experience with failure after graduation?

She describes how, seven years after graduation, she experienced a failed marriage, was jobless, and was as poor as possible without being homeless, which led her to reassess her priorities.

How did the speaker’s fear of failure contribute to her success?

Failure pushed the speaker to stop pretending and focus all her energy on what truly mattered—writing novels—which ultimately led to her success.

What lesson does the speaker want graduates to learn about personal happiness and success?

The speaker emphasizes that personal happiness lies not in a checklist of achievements but in self-awareness and the resilience gained from overcoming life's challenges.

Why does the speaker value imagination, and how does she relate it to her early work at Amnesty International?

The speaker values imagination as the capacity to empathize with others, explaining how her work at Amnesty International exposed her to human suffering and the importance of empathy in creating positive change.

What final piece of advice does the speaker give the graduates?

The speaker advises graduates to use their privilege and status to help others, encouraging them to imagine better and act on behalf of the powerless to make a meaningful difference in the world.