JK罗琳哈佛大学演讲

The Benefits of JK Rowling at Harvard 1

2008

年

J.K.

罗琳在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

:

< br>失败的好处和想象力的重要

性

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the

Importance of Imagination

Harvard University Commencement Address

J.K. Rowling

Tercentenary Theatre, June 5, 2008

失败的好处和想象力的重要性

哈佛大学毕业典礼

J.K.

罗琳

2 008

年

6

月

5

日

Video of J K Rowling's Commencement Address, “The

Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the

Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association on June 5th 2008. In

this powerful, moving, yet also funny speech Jo talks about her time

working for Amnesty International, her personal experiences with failure

and the power of the imagination to allow us to empathize with others.

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board

of Overseers,

members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates,

福斯特主席

,

哈佛公司和监察委员会的各位成员

,

各位老师、家长、全体毕业生们

:

The first thing I would like to say is

Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and

nausea I’ve endured at the thought of giving this commencement address

have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is

take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I

am at the world’s largest Gryffindors' re

union.

首先请允许我说一声谢谢。哈佛不仅给了我无上的荣誉

,

连日来为这个演讲经

受的恐惧和紧张

,

更令我减肥成功。这真是一个双赢的局面。现在我要做的就是深

呼吸几下

,

眯着眼睛看看前面的大红横幅

,

上。

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so

I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The

commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher

Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously

in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single

word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without

any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising

careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming

a gay wizard.

发表毕业演说是一个巨大的责任

,

至少在我回忆自己当年的毕业典礼前是这么

< br>认为的。那天做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家

Baroness Mary War nock,

对她演讲的

回忆

,

对我写今天的演讲稿

,

产生了极大的帮助

,

因为我不记得她说过的任何一句话

了。这个 发现让我释然

,

让我不再担心我可能会无意中影响你放弃在商业

,

法律或政

治上的大好前途

转而醉心于成为一个快乐的魔法师。

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard'

joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable

goals - the first step to self-improvement.

你们看

,

如果在若干年后你们还记得“ 快乐的魔法师”这个笑话

,

那就证明我

已经超越了

Baroness Mary Warnock

。建 立可实现的目标——这是提高自我的第一

步。

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say

to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own

graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years

that has expired between that day and this.

实际上

,

我为今天应该和大家谈些什么绞尽 了脑汁。我问自己什么是我希望早

在毕业典礼上就该了解的

,< /p>

而从那时起到现在的

21

年间

我又得到了什么重要的启

示。

< br>

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are

gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to

talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the

threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the

crucial importance of imagination.

我想到了两个答案。在这美好的一天

,

当我们一起庆祝你们取得学业成就的时

刻

,

我希望告诉你们失败有什么样的益处

;

< br>在你们即将迈向“现实生活”的道路之际

,

我还要褒扬想 象力的重要性。

These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.

这些似乎是不切实际或自相矛盾的选择

,

但请先容我讲完。

Looking back at

the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable

experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago,

I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself,

and what those closest to me expected of me.

回顾

21

岁刚刚毕业时的自己

,

对于今天

42

岁的我来说

,< /p>

是一个稍微不太舒服

的经历。可以说

,< /p>

我人生的前一部分

,

一直挣扎在自己的雄 心和身边的人对我的期望

之间。

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to

write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished

backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that

my overactive imagination

was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or

secure a pension.

< br>我一直深信

,

自己唯一想做的事情

,

就是写小说。不过

,

我的父母

,

他们都来自

贫穷的背景

< br>,

没有任何一人上过大学

,

坚持 认为我过度的想象力是一个令人惊讶的个

人怪癖

,

根本不足以让我支付按揭

,

或者取得足够的养老金。

I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now,

but…

我现在明白反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你

,

但

...

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to

study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect