jk罗琳哈佛大学演讲稿JK罗琳在哈佛2019毕业典礼上演讲
稿
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,安慰自己正在世界上最大的魔法学院聚会上.
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认为的.那天做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家BaronessMaryWarnock,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.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BaronessMaryWarnock.
建立可实现的目标——这是提高自我的第一步.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,而从那时起到现在的21年间,我又得到了什么重要的启示.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；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.这些似乎是不切实际或自相矛盾的选择,但请先容我讲完.
回顾21岁刚刚毕业时的自己,对于今天42岁的我来说,是一个稍微不太舒服的经历.可以说,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.
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,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.
我现在明白反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你,但他们希望我去拿个职业学位,而我想去攻读英国文学.最后,达成了一个双方都不甚满意的妥协：我改学现代语言.
可是等到父母一走开,我立刻放弃了德语而报名学习古典文学.我不记得将
2008年jk罗琳哈佛毕业典礼演讲（中英文对照）默认分类 2009-07-17 20:13 阅读1281 评论0 字号：大中小 “2008年6月5日是哈佛大学的毕业典礼，请来的演讲嘉宾是《哈利波特》的作者j.k. 罗琳女士。她的演讲题目是《失败的好处和想象的重要性》（the fringe benefits of failure, and the importance of imaginatio n）。我读了一遍讲稿，觉得很好，很感染人。 她几乎没有谈到哈里波特，而是说了年轻时的一些经历。虽然j·k· 罗琳现在很有钱，是英国仅次于女皇的最富有的女人，但是她曾经有一段非常艰辛的日 子，30岁了，还差点流落街头。她主要谈的是，自己从 这段经历中学到的东西。” 以下是英文文稿和中文翻译： text as delivered follows. copyright of jk rowling, june 2008 president faust, members of the harvard corporation and the board of overseers, members of the faculty, proud parent s, and, above all, graduates. the first thing i would like to say is ?thank you.? not only he world?s largest gryffindor reunion. k. achievable goals: the first step to self improvement. 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 have expired between tha t day and this. agination. these may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but plea se bear with me. hose closest to me expected of me. 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 would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. i know that the irony strikes with t he force of a cartoon anvil, now. d off down th e classics corridor. i cannot remember telling my parents that i was studying classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. of all the subjects on this planet, i think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an exec utive bathroom. i would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that i do not blame my parents for their point of view. there is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. what is more, i cannot criticise my parents for hoping
哈佛大学毕业典礼演讲稿——人生唯一目标是做自己奥普拉·温弗瑞：美国著名脱口秀主持人、媒体企业家。 奥普拉在哈佛大学2013届毕业典礼的演讲——人生唯一目标是做自己 我要分享的想法是：无论你有多么成功，也许你们会不断追求更高的目标，这就难免会遇到失意之时。我希望届时各位可以记住：世上并不存在失败，那不过是生活试图将我们推向另一个方向罢了。 当你身处困境时，看起来是一种失败。在过去的一年中，我时刻提醒自己牢记这一点。当深陷困境时，感到难过是正常的，给自己一点时间去思考即将失去的一切。关键在于：要从错误中汲取教训，因为所有经验，尤其是你犯下的错误，都将帮助你、推动你更好地做自己，确定下一步何去何从。生活的关键在于建立起一个内在的道德情感导航仪，为你指明方向。因为从今以后，当你用谷歌搜索自己的时候，搜索结果中会提到：“哈佛大学2013毕业生”。在这个充满竞争的世界，这的确是一张抢眼的名片。 我曾招聘过很多人，而每当我看到哈佛大学这个字眼时，我总是会坐直一些说：“他 们在哪?把他们统统带过来。”正是这张抢眼的名片可以成就你们的未来之路。你们可能成 为律师、议员、首席执行官、科学家、物理学家、诺贝尔奖及普利策奖得主，甚至深夜脱口秀节目主持人。但生活的挑战在于创建一份不仅陈述所期望的职位的履历，而且上面要明确成就怎样的自我。这份履历不仅需要表达你想成就一番怎样的事业，也要明确动机，除了头衔与职位，也要有达成目标的缘由。你的使命是什么?你的信仰是什么?你的目标是 什么?只有这样，当你不慎跌倒发现自深陷困境之时，才能帮助你重振旗鼓。 我是在1994年才认识到这一点的。那年我采访了一位凭一己之力积攒了1000美元 零花钱的小女孩，她将这钱捐出来帮助有需要的人。这个九岁大的小女孩促使我思考，仅凭一个存钱罐与雄心壮志就能做到这样，那我可以做些什么呢?于是我号召我的观众们捐 出他们的零钱，在一个月内，仅仅是一枚枚零钱硬币就募到了300万美金。我们用这笔 钱资助每个州的一位学子进入大学的殿堂。我所做的仅仅是号召我的观众，“尽己所能， 无论地域与地位，如果可能，请贡献出你们的时间、智慧与财力。无论你在哪里，请为他人送去自己的仁爱之心。”观众也用行动表明了一切。我们在12个不同的城镇建起了55 所学校，修缮了300栋被“丽塔”飓风和“卡特里娜”飓风摧毁的民宅。 创办“天使网络”的想法在我心中萦绕已久，也正是“天使网络”让我确定了心中的那个 导航仪。我决定不再单一地制作电视节目，还要关注节目的终极理念、采访对象、行业发展和慈善事业等等。无论我们追求什么，将我们团结在一起的信念胜过其他一切。作为一个19岁就出现在电视节目中的孩子，起初我并不明白这个道理，直到1994年才有所醒
The Spider’s Bite When I was in middle school, a poisonous spider bit my right hand. I ran to my mom for help—but instead of taking me to a doctor, my mom set my hand on fire.After wrapping my hand with several layers of cotton, then soaking it in wine, she put a chopstick into my mouth,and ignited the cotton. 在我上中学的时候，一只有毒蜘蛛咬伤了我的右手，我去找母亲帮忙，但是她没有找医生，却把我的手放在火上面。她用酒浸过的棉纱绕着我的手缠了好几层之后，在我的嘴里放了一根筷子，然后点燃了棉纱。 【语言点解析】 Poisonous表示有毒的；恶毒的；讨厌的。例句：A lot of poisonous waste water comes from that chemical factory. 那个化工厂排出大量有毒的废水。 Heat quickly penetrated the cotton and began to roast my hand. The searing pain made me want to scream, but the chopstick prevented it. All I could do was watch my hand burn - one minute, then two minutes –until mom put out the fire. 棉纱上的温度很快上来了，我的手也开始发烫。这股灼痛让我想要大叫，不过我嘴里含着的筷子让我叫不出来。我唯一能做的就是看着我的手骨，一分钟过去了，两分钟过去了，直到母亲熄灭火。 You see, the part of China I grew up in was a rural village, and at that time pre-industrial. When I was born, my village had no cars, no telephones, no electricity, not even running water. And we certainly didn’t have access to modern medical resources. 所以你看到，我是在中国的一个小山村里成长的，在那个时候，并不发达。在我出生的那个年代，我们村没车、没电话、也没电，甚至都没有自来水！且理所当然地，我没有接触现代医疗资源的办法。 There was no doctor my mother could bring me to see about my spider bite.For those who study biology, you may have grasped the science behind my mom’s cure: heat deactivates proteins, and a spider’s venom is simply a form of protein. It’s cool how that folk remedy actually incorporates basic biochemistry, isn’t it? 当我被蜘蛛咬伤时，并没有医生可以来治疗我。对于学生物学的人来说，你也许能找到我母亲治愈背后所包含的科学原理：热量能够让蛋白质失活，而蜘蛛的毒液都是蛋白质组成的。将这个土方子和生物化学基础联系起来很神奇，不是吗？ 【语言点解析】 Folk remedy表示偏方。例句：The active component, willow bark, was used as a folk remedy as long ago as the 5th century BC. 它来自早在公元前五世纪就被用于民间配方的柳树皮，是这种树皮的一种有效成分。 But I am a PhD student in biochemistry at Harvard, I now know that better, less painful and less risky treatments existed. So I can’t help but ask myself, why I didn’t receive one at the time? 不过我现在是一个在哈佛学习生物化学的博士生，我现在知道了一个更好的、不那么痛、危险系数更小的治疗方法。所以，我忍不住问我自己，为什么那个时候我不能接受更好的治疗吗？
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 "thank you." Not only has 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' reunion. 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，安慰自己正在世界上最大的格兰芬多。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认为的。那天做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家Baroness Mary Warnock，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（gay有快乐和同性恋的意思）。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. 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' reunion. 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，安慰自己正在世界上最大的格兰芬多（沪江小编：以防有人没看过《哈利波特》……格兰芬多是小哈利所在的魔法学院的名字）聚会上。 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认为的。那天做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家Baroness Mary Warnock，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（gay有快乐和同性恋的意思）。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.
奥普拉哈佛毕业典礼演讲：人生唯一目标就是做真实的自己 oh my goodness! im at haaaaaarvard! thats how oprah winfrey began her speech at harvard university graduation ceremony—in her spirited, signature way. winfrey also received an honorary doctor of law degree from the university before taking to the podium. 温弗瑞演讲中4条最励志的语录 谈失败的好处 there is no such thing as failure. failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. 世间并不存在“失败”，那不过是生活想让我们换个方向走走罢了。 learn from every mistake, because every experience, particularly your mistakes, are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are. 要 从错误中吸取教训，因为你的每一次经历、尤其是你犯下的错误，都将帮助你、推动你更好 地做自己。 2. on her own biggest personal failure. 谈自身最大的失败 我突然想到某首古老赞美诗中的一句话：“困难只是暂时的”，我遇到的麻烦同样会有结 束的一天。然后我想，我会将这一页翻过去，我会好起来的。 谈职业生涯所做访谈的共同性 beyonce in all her beyonce-ness ... they all want to know: was that okay? did you hear me? did you see me? did what i said mean anything to you? 我发现，我所有的访谈有一个共同性，那就是人人都希望自己被认可、被理解。 they all want to know: was that okay? did you hear me? did you see me? did what i said mean anything to you? 我的采访对象都想知道：“我的表现ok吗？你听到我看到我吗？我说的话对你有价值 吗？” 4. on the key to success and happiness. 谈成功和快乐的关键 you will find true success and happiness if you have only one goal. there really is only one, and that is this: to fulfill the highest, most truthful expression of yourself as a human being. 如果你只认准一个目标，那你就能获得真正的成功和快乐。人生确实只有一个目标，那 就是：最大程度地、最真实地展现自己。 “不要问自己世界需要什么，问问是什么让你精神抖擞地活着，然后就去做，因为世界 所需要的就是一个个朝气蓬勃的人。”篇二：奥普拉哈佛毕业典礼演讲 奥普拉哈佛毕业典礼演讲：人生唯一目标就是做真实的自己 oprah winfrey: oh my goodness! im at harvard! wow! to president faust, my fellow honorands, carl that was so beautiful, thank you so much, and james rothenberg, stephanie wilson, harvard faculty with a special bow to my friend dr. henry lewis gates. oprah winfrey: all of you alumni with a special bow to the class of 88, your hundred fifteen million dollars. oprah winfrey: and to you, members of the harvard class of 2013! hello! oprah winfrey: and we understand that most americans believe in a clear path to citizenship for the 12,000,000 undocumented immigrants who reside in this country
哈佛校长2016年毕业典礼演讲 Greetings, alumni, graduates, families, and friends. It is such a pleasure to see you all he re and offercongratulations on this day of celebration. I am in the unenviable role of war m-up act for one ofthe greatest storytellers of our - or any other - time. Nevertheless, m y assignment is to offer a fewreflections on this magnificent institution at this moment in its history. And what a moment it is! From comments of astonished pundits on television, in print, and online, to conversations withbewildered friends and colleagues, the question seems unavoidable and mesmerizin g: What is goingon? What is happening to the world? The tumultuous state of American politics, spotlighted in thiscontentious presidential contest; the political challenges around the globe from Brazil to Brexit; theMiddle East in flames; a refugee crisis in Europe; terr orists exploiting new media to perform chillingacts of brutality and murder; climate-relate d famine in Africa and fires in Canada. It is as if we arebeing visited by the horsemen of t he apocalypse with war, famine, natural disaster and, yes, evenpestilence - as Zika sprea ds, aided by political controversy and paralysis. As extraordinary as these times may seem to us, Harvard reminds us we have been here before. Itis in some ways reassuring at this 365th Commencement to recall all that Harv ard has enduredover centuries. A number of these festival rites took place under clouds of war; others in times offinancial crisis and despair; still others in face of epidemics - fro m smallpox in the 17th century tothe devastating flu of 1918 to the H1N1 virus just a fe w years ago. Harvard has not just survivedthese challenges, but has helped to confront t hem. We sing in our alma mater about "Calm risingthrough change and through storm." What does that mean for today's crises? Where douniversities fit in this threatening mix? What can we do? What should we do? What must we do? We are gathered today in Tercentenary Theatre, with Widener Library and Memorial Chu rchstanding before and behind us, enduring symbols of Harvard's larger identity and pur poses,testaments to what universities do and believe at a time when we have never nee ded them more.And much is at stake, for us and for the world. We look at Widener Library and see a great edifice, a backdrop of giant columns where p hotos aretaken and 27 steps are worn down ever so slightly by the feet of a century of st udents andscholars. We also see a repository of learning, with 57 miles of shelving at the heart of a librarysystem of some 17 million books, a monument to reason and knowledg e, to the collection andpreservation of the widest possible range of beliefs, and experienc es, and facts that fuel free inquiryand our constantly evolving understanding. A vehicle fo r Veritas - for exploring the path to truthwherever it may lead. A tribute to the belief that knowledge matters, that facts matter - in thepresent moment, as a basis for the informe
比尔盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲稿（英） 2011-06-19 00:47:16 标签：比尔盖茨休闲演讲比尔盖茨哈佛演讲生活 From:https://www.doczj.com/doc/c316854631.html,/fllw/089262235563199.html President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree. I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. I'll be changing my job next year ... and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume. I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me Harvard's most successful dropout. I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class ... I did the best of everyone who failed.
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: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 2008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,
人生唯一目标是做自己-哈佛大学2013届毕业典礼演讲 人生唯一目标是做自己 ——奥普拉在哈佛大学2013届毕业典礼上的演讲 我要分享的想法是：无论你有多么成功，也许你们会不断追求更高的目标，这就难免会遇到失意之时。我希望届时各位可以记住：世上并不存在失败，那不过是生活试图将我们推向另一个方向罢了。 当你身处困境时，看起来是一种失败。在过去的一年中，我时刻提醒自己牢记这一点。当深陷困境时，感到难过是正常的，给自己一点时间去思考即将失去的一切。关键在于：要从错误中汲取教训，因为所有经验，尤其是你犯下的错误，都将帮助你、推动你更好地做自己，确定下一步何去何从。生活的关键在于建立起一个内在的道德情感导航仪，为你指明方向。因为从今以后，当你用谷歌搜索自己的时候，搜索结果中会提到：“哈佛大学2013毕业生”。在这个充满竞争的世界，这的确是一张抢眼的名片。 我曾招聘过很多人，而每当我看到哈佛大学这个字眼时，我总是会坐直一些
说：“他们在哪？把他们统统带过来。”正是这张抢眼的名片可以成就你们的未来之路。你们可能成为律师、议员、首席执行官、科学家、物理学家、诺贝尔奖及普利策奖得主，甚至深夜脱口秀节目主持人。但生活的挑战在于创建一份不仅陈述所期望的职位的履历，而且上面要明确成就怎样的自我。这份履历不仅需要表达你想成就一番怎样的事业，也要明确动机，除了头衔与职位，也要有达成目标的缘由。你的使命是什么？你的信仰是什么？你的目标是什么？只有这样，当你不慎跌倒发现自深陷困境之时，才能帮助你重振旗鼓。 我是在1994年才认识到这一点的。那年我采访了一位凭一己之力积攒了1000美元零花钱的小女孩，她将这钱捐出来帮助有需要的人。这个九岁大的小女孩促使我思考，仅凭一个存钱罐与雄心壮志就能做到这样，那我可以做些什么呢？于是我号召我的观众们捐出他们的零钱，在一个月内，仅仅是一枚枚零钱硬币就募到了300万美金。我们用这笔钱资助每个州的一位学子进入大学的殿堂。我所做的仅仅是号召我的观众，“尽己所能，无论地域与地位，如果可能，请贡献出你们的时间、智慧与财力。无论你在哪里，请为他人送去自己的仁爱之心。”观众也用行动表明了一切。我们在12个不同的城镇建起了55所学校，修缮了
Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places. Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise. And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know. I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid. What is more, those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy. One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing. But how much more a re you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden. If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. 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. I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for l ife. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister. So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: