Happy birthday J.K. Rowling: 15 quotes by the magical author on life, friendship and hope
Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling’s most famous work to date, was touted to be a children’s read when it first released a little over 20 years ago and became a sensation soon after. It is, however, wrong to assume that one of the most-loved authors in the world today, wrote only for children. Not because she wrote books for adults when the HP series ended, but because a lot of the content in the Potter books is layered and dark - something you wouldn’t understand without personal experiences or learnings from around you. As a nearly die-hard potterhead, I have read the entire series four times already and even though the films didn’t do much justice to its literary content, enjoyed watching most of the films repeatedly since their release all those years ago. The books, followed by the movies, have defined a cultural phenomenon, and readers like us who’ve pretty much grown up reading the books have a lot to owe to the material - giving wings to imagination - and for enhancing our vocabulary every now and then.
Stardom or her rise to fame wasn’t a cakewalk by any stretch of imagination for J.K. Rowling. She knew of adversity for a long time having gone through personal hardships, poverty, and clinical depression before she wrote her heart out and emerged stronger out of it all, leading by example all throughout.
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On a TV show she had once said that she was “as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless,” dealing with her setbacks and feeling like an ultimate failure. Writing came as more than a catharsis for Rowling and it came to her as the light at the end of the tunnel.
The author went onto become a multi-millionaire in a span of five years, but has been humble about her struggles that gave her the push to let out those creative juices. She has donated a large sum of money to charities, actively supports several NGOs, and also established her own foundation, Lumos, in 2005.
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On her 54th birthday today, here are 15 quotes that you need to keep yourself motivated and go on doing what you do best with all the courage and the nerve you can muster.
1. Wit beyond measure is a man’s greatest treasure.
2. Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
3. It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
4. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
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5. You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.
6. We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.
7. You place too much importance... on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be!
8. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.
9. If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
10. Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.
11. As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
12. It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
13. 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.
14. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships until both have been tested by adversity.
15. The wizards represent all that the true ‘muggle’ most fears: They are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit!
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