She has fostered a love for reading and imagination among millions and her Twitter account is a goldmine of Harry Potter and humanitarian wisdom. Joanne Rowling, more popularly known as J.K. Rowling, is arguably one of the most influential people of the 21st century. Author of the largest grossing book series in history, even more impressively, she has used her fame and success to fight for the rights of institutionalized children, encourage social awareness, and urge forward social activism. As my childhood and now adulthood hero, her influence on my life is immeasurable; her influence on the world is unequivocally greater. Here are some of Rowling's most inspirational quotes, obtained from various websites and her twitter account, to remind you how impactful and inspiring words can be.
On failure and success:
"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well hot have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default."
"Failure means a stripping away of the inessential."
"The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any qualification I ever earned."
On empathy:
"We're all human, aren't we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."
"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike."
"Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to emphasize with humans whose experiences we have never shared."
She's even an advocate for empathy and human rights when she's not directly affected:
On money:
"I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."
"I think the single biggest thing that money gave me--and obviously I came from a place where I was a single mother and it really was hand to mouth at one point. It was literally as poor as you can get in Britain without being homeless at one point. If you've ever been there you will never, ever take for granted that you don't need to worry. Never."
Her brilliant Twitter response to accusations of growing up "on the queen's dime."
On talent and remembrance:
"I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had."
On inspiration:
"I've no idea where ideas come from and I hope I never find out; it would spoil the excitement for me if it turned out I just have a funny little wrinkle on the surface of my brain which makes me think about invisible train platforms."
On character:
"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
"If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
And when it comes to fighting oppression:
And even fighting the values of the president:
On the power of words:
"Language has consequences."
"Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it."
On dogs:
Lastly, on our own power to change the world:
"We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already."
