1 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:09,590 last summer in a grand celebration of 2 00:00:09,590 --> 00:00:13,099 literature Harvard Square and Harvard 3 00:00:13,099 --> 00:00:17,090 Yard historically known as the place for 4 00:00:17,090 --> 00:00:20,570 hallowed halls filled with books was 5 00:00:20,570 --> 00:00:28,880 transformed into Hogwarts Square this 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:31,220 summer festival celebrated the midnight 7 00:00:31,220 --> 00:00:33,680 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly 8 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,620 Hallows the seventh and final 9 00:00:36,620 --> 00:00:40,989 installment in the wildly popular series 10 00:00:40,989 --> 00:00:43,670 hoards of people children and adults 11 00:00:43,670 --> 00:00:46,520 alike dressed in elaborate wizard 12 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,520 costumes stood in line for hours at the 13 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,870 coop to purchase copies of the book 14 00:00:52,870 --> 00:00:56,360 dozens of restaurants and stores stayed 15 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:59,600 open late and posted Harry Potter themed 16 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,110 specials and a three hour concert capped 17 00:01:03,110 --> 00:01:05,509 off the evening and impact true 18 00:01:05,509 --> 00:01:09,049 centenary theater today tercentenary 19 00:01:09,049 --> 00:01:12,320 theatre is once again packed with 20 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:15,380 children and adults and we are pleased 21 00:01:15,380 --> 00:01:17,710 to welcome one of the most successful 22 00:01:17,710 --> 00:01:21,560 authors of our time her books have set 23 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,600 sales records and have won many awards 24 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,710 probably because the Harry Potter 25 00:01:27,710 --> 00:01:31,070 stories provide a familiar backdrop for 26 00:01:31,070 --> 00:01:34,159 readers who can empathize with the young 27 00:01:34,159 --> 00:01:37,670 protagonists adrift in a sometimes cruel 28 00:01:37,670 --> 00:01:42,110 and challenging world in addition to her 29 00:01:42,110 --> 00:01:44,180 vast contributions to literature 30 00:01:44,180 --> 00:01:48,799 she is also noted for the social moral 31 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:51,710 and political inspiration she has given 32 00:01:51,710 --> 00:01:52,640 her fans 33 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,000 a notable philanthropist she has 34 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,470 established the Volant charitable trust 35 00:01:59,470 --> 00:02:03,290 which donates millions of dollars to aid 36 00:02:03,290 --> 00:02:07,159 women and children and to combat poverty 37 00:02:07,159 --> 00:02:20,810 and social inequality the 38 00:02:20,810 --> 00:02:24,090 the fund also gives to organizations 39 00:02:24,090 --> 00:02:27,480 that aid children one parent families 40 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,280 and multiple multiple sclerosis research 41 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,220 she herself has noted that a person has 42 00:02:35,220 --> 00:02:39,060 a moral responsibility when you've been 43 00:02:39,060 --> 00:02:42,120 given far more than you need to do wise 44 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:44,880 things with it and to give intelligently 45 00:02:44,880 --> 00:03:23,250 and now I give you MS JK Rowling 46 00:03:23,250 --> 00:03:26,980 president first members of the Harvard 47 00:03:26,980 --> 00:03:29,700 corporation and the Board of Overseers 48 00:03:29,700 --> 00:03:33,600 members of the faculty proud parents and 49 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,870 above all graduates the first thing I 50 00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:39,870 would like to say is thank you 51 00:03:39,870 --> 00:03:42,490 not only has half had given me an 52 00:03:42,490 --> 00:03:45,310 extraordinary honor but the weeks of 53 00:03:45,310 --> 00:03:50,860 fear and nausea I have endured at the 54 00:03:50,860 --> 00:03:52,690 thought of giving this commencement 55 00:03:52,690 --> 00:03:58,760 address have made me lose weight 56 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:05,000 a win-win situation now all I have to do 57 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,519 is take deep breaths squint at the red 58 00:04:07,519 --> 00:04:10,909 banners and convince myself than up that 59 00:04:10,909 --> 00:04:12,980 I am at the world's largest Gryffindor 60 00:04:12,980 --> 00:04:23,580 reunion 61 00:04:23,580 --> 00:04:25,900 delivering a commencement address is a 62 00:04:25,900 --> 00:04:29,080 great responsibility or so I thought 63 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:32,320 until I cast my mind back to my own 64 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,560 graduation the commencement speaker that 65 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,450 day was the distinguished British 66 00:04:37,450 --> 00:04:40,590 philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock 67 00:04:40,590 --> 00:04:43,570 reflecting on her speech has helped me 68 00:04:43,570 --> 00:04:46,270 enormous Lee in writing this one because 69 00:04:46,270 --> 00:04:47,860 it turns out that I can't remember a 70 00:04:47,860 --> 00:04:57,490 single word she said this liberating 71 00:04:57,490 --> 00:05:02,320 discovery enables me to proceed without 72 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:04,680 any fear that I might inadvertently 73 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,040 influence you to abandon promising 74 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,410 careers in business the law or politics 75 00:05:11,410 --> 00:05:14,200 for the giddy delights of becoming a gay 76 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:25,219 wizard 77 00:05:25,219 --> 00:05:28,830 you see if all you remember in years to 78 00:05:28,830 --> 00:05:31,169 come is the gay wizard joke I've come 79 00:05:31,169 --> 00:05:37,849 out ahead of Baroness marijuana 80 00:05:37,849 --> 00:05:40,679 achievable goals the first step to 81 00:05:40,679 --> 00:05:46,649 self-improvement actually I have wrapped 82 00:05:46,649 --> 00:05:48,599 my mind and heart for what I ought to 83 00:05:48,599 --> 00:05:51,449 say to you today I have asked myself 84 00:05:51,449 --> 00:05:53,579 what I wish I had known at my own 85 00:05:53,579 --> 00:05:56,999 graduation and what important lessons I 86 00:05:56,999 --> 00:05:59,550 have learnt in the 21 years that have 87 00:05:59,550 --> 00:06:03,239 expired between that day and this I have 88 00:06:03,239 --> 00:06:06,209 come up with two answers on this 89 00:06:06,209 --> 00:06:07,800 wonderful day when we are gathered 90 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,959 together to celebrate your academic 91 00:06:09,959 --> 00:06:12,779 success I have decided to talk to you 92 00:06:12,779 --> 00:06:16,739 about the benefits of failure and as you 93 00:06:16,739 --> 00:06:18,569 stand on the threshold of what is 94 00:06:18,569 --> 00:06:21,509 sometimes called real life I want to 95 00:06:21,509 --> 00:06:23,519 extol the crucial importance of 96 00:06:23,519 --> 00:06:27,299 imagination these may seem quixotic or 97 00:06:27,299 --> 00:06:31,099 paradoxical choices but bear with me 98 00:06:31,099 --> 00:06:33,989 looking back at the 21 year old that I 99 00:06:33,989 --> 00:06:36,149 was at graduation is a slightly 100 00:06:36,149 --> 00:06:38,669 uncomfortable experience for the 42 year 101 00:06:38,669 --> 00:06:42,059 old that she has become half my lifetime 102 00:06:42,059 --> 00:06:45,029 ago I was striking an uneasy balance 103 00:06:45,029 --> 00:06:47,069 between the ambition I had for myself 104 00:06:47,069 --> 00:06:49,739 and what those closest are to me 105 00:06:49,739 --> 00:06:53,399 expected of me I was convinced that the 106 00:06:53,399 --> 00:06:56,369 only thing I wanted to do ever was write 107 00:06:56,369 --> 00:07:00,029 novels however my parents both of whom 108 00:07:00,029 --> 00:07:01,889 came from impoverished backgrounds and 109 00:07:01,889 --> 00:07:04,499 neither of whom had been to college took 110 00:07:04,499 --> 00:07:06,689 the view that my overactive imagination 111 00:07:06,689 --> 00:07:09,509 was an amusing personal quirk that would 112 00:07:09,509 --> 00:07:11,849 never pay a mortgage or secure a pension 113 00:07:11,849 --> 00:07:15,089 I know the irony strikes with the force 114 00:07:15,089 --> 00:07:20,219 of a cartoon anvil now but so they hoped 115 00:07:20,219 --> 00:07:22,279 that I would take a vocational degree I 116 00:07:22,279 --> 00:07:25,009 wanted to study English literature a 117 00:07:25,009 --> 00:07:27,300 compromise was reached that in 118 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:30,539 retrospect satisfied nobody and I went 119 00:07:30,539 --> 00:07:33,539 up to study Modern Languages hardly had 120 00:07:33,539 --> 00:07:35,429 my parents car round at the corner at 121 00:07:35,429 --> 00:07:36,860 the end of the road then 122 00:07:36,860 --> 00:07:39,290 ditched German and scuttled off down the 123 00:07:39,290 --> 00:07:40,490 classics corridor 124 00:07:40,490 --> 00:07:43,940 I cannot remember telling my parents 125 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:46,370 that I was studying classics they might 126 00:07:46,370 --> 00:07:47,900 well have found out for the first time 127 00:07:47,900 --> 00:07:52,310 on graduation day of all the subjects on 128 00:07:52,310 --> 00:07:54,380 this planet I think they would have been 129 00:07:54,380 --> 00:07:57,290 hard put to name one less useful than 130 00:07:57,290 --> 00:07:59,570 Greek mythology when it came to securing 131 00:07:59,570 --> 00:08:04,250 the keys to an executive bathroom now I 132 00:08:04,250 --> 00:08:05,960 would like to make it clear in 133 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,360 parentheses that I do not blame my 134 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,610 parents but their point of view there is 135 00:08:10,610 --> 00:08:13,280 an expiry date on blaming your parents 136 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:24,749 for steering you in the wrong direction 137 00:08:24,749 --> 00:08:27,549 the moment you are old enough to take 138 00:08:27,549 --> 00:08:30,269 the wheel responsibility lies with you 139 00:08:30,269 --> 00:08:33,909 what is more I cannot criticize my 140 00:08:33,909 --> 00:08:35,649 parents for hoping that I would never 141 00:08:35,649 --> 00:08:38,649 experience poverty they had been poor 142 00:08:38,649 --> 00:08:41,259 themselves and I have since been poor 143 00:08:41,259 --> 00:08:44,379 and I quite agree with them that it is 144 00:08:44,379 --> 00:08:47,800 not an ennobling experience poverty 145 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,430 entails fear and stress and sometimes 146 00:08:51,430 --> 00:08:54,310 depression it means a thousand petty 147 00:08:54,310 --> 00:08:57,670 humiliations and hardships climbing out 148 00:08:57,670 --> 00:09:00,040 of poverty by your own efforts that is 149 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,139 something on which to pride yourself but 150 00:09:02,139 --> 00:09:05,410 poverty itself is romanticized only by 151 00:09:05,410 --> 00:09:09,639 fools what I feared most for myself at 152 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:13,720 your age was not poverty but failure at 153 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,110 your age in spite of a distinct lack of 154 00:09:17,110 --> 00:09:19,540 motivation at University where I had 155 00:09:19,540 --> 00:09:21,399 spent far too long in the coffee bar 156 00:09:21,399 --> 00:09:23,829 writing stories and far too little time 157 00:09:23,829 --> 00:09:26,589 at lectures I had a knack for passing 158 00:09:26,589 --> 00:09:30,550 examinations and that for years had been 159 00:09:30,550 --> 00:09:32,649 the measure of success in my life and 160 00:09:32,649 --> 00:09:36,939 that of my peers now I am not done 161 00:09:36,939 --> 00:09:38,589 enough to suppose that because you are 162 00:09:38,589 --> 00:09:41,860 young gifted and well-educated you have 163 00:09:41,860 --> 00:09:45,250 never known heartbreak hardship or 164 00:09:45,250 --> 00:09:48,910 heartache talent and intelligence never 165 00:09:48,910 --> 00:09:51,250 yet inoculated anyone against the 166 00:09:51,250 --> 00:09:53,920 Caprice of the fates and I do not for a 167 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,079 moment suppose that everyone here has 168 00:09:56,079 --> 00:09:58,269 enjoyed an existence of unruffled 169 00:09:58,269 --> 00:10:02,860 privilege and contentment however the 170 00:10:02,860 --> 00:10:04,389 fact that you are graduating from 171 00:10:04,389 --> 00:10:07,149 Harvard suggests that you are not very 172 00:10:07,149 --> 00:10:10,400 well acquainted with failure 173 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,170 you might be driven by a fear of failure 174 00:10:13,170 --> 00:10:16,220 quite as much as a desire for success 175 00:10:16,220 --> 00:10:19,800 indeed your conception of failure might 176 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:21,750 not be too far removed from the average 177 00:10:21,750 --> 00:10:25,110 person's idea of success so high 178 00:10:25,110 --> 00:10:30,690 have you already flown ultimately we all 179 00:10:30,690 --> 00:10:32,520 have to decide for ourselves what 180 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,340 constitutes failure but the world is 181 00:10:35,340 --> 00:10:36,990 quite eager to give you a set of 182 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:40,440 criteria if you let it so I think it 183 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,080 fair to say that by any conventional 184 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,840 measure a mere seven years after my 185 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,500 graduation day I had failed on an epic 186 00:10:49,500 --> 00:10:52,680 scale an exceptionally short lived 187 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:55,830 marriage had imploded and I was jobless 188 00:10:55,830 --> 00:10:59,100 a lone parent and as poor as it is 189 00:10:59,100 --> 00:11:01,440 possible to be in modern Britain without 190 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:04,980 being homeless the fears that my parents 191 00:11:04,980 --> 00:11:07,350 had had for me and that I had had for 192 00:11:07,350 --> 00:11:11,040 myself had both come to pass and by 193 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,710 every usual standard I was the biggest 194 00:11:13,710 --> 00:11:17,340 failure I knew now I'm not going to 195 00:11:17,340 --> 00:11:18,990 stand here and tell you that failure is 196 00:11:18,990 --> 00:11:22,290 fun that period of my life was a dark 197 00:11:22,290 --> 00:11:24,930 one and I had no idea that there was 198 00:11:24,930 --> 00:11:27,180 going to be what the press has since 199 00:11:27,180 --> 00:11:29,760 represented as a kind of fairytale 200 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,810 resolution I had no idea then how far 201 00:11:33,810 --> 00:11:36,090 the tunnel extended and for a long time 202 00:11:36,090 --> 00:11:38,160 any light at the end of it was a hope 203 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,350 rather than a reality so why do I talk 204 00:11:42,350 --> 00:11:46,680 about the benefits of failure simply 205 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:48,930 because failure meant a stripping away 206 00:11:48,930 --> 00:11:52,530 of the inessential I stopped pretending 207 00:11:52,530 --> 00:11:55,140 to myself that I was anything other than 208 00:11:55,140 --> 00:11:57,900 what I was and began to direct all my 209 00:11:57,900 --> 00:12:00,630 energy into finishing the only work that 210 00:12:00,630 --> 00:12:03,900 mattered to me had I really succeeded at 211 00:12:03,900 --> 00:12:05,490 anything else I might never have found 212 00:12:05,490 --> 00:12:08,010 the determination to succeed in the one 213 00:12:08,010 --> 00:12:10,290 arena where I believed I truly belonged 214 00:12:10,290 --> 00:12:14,790 I was set free because my greatest fear 215 00:12:14,790 --> 00:12:17,220 had been realized and I was still alive 216 00:12:17,220 --> 00:12:19,830 and I still had a daughter whom I adored 217 00:12:19,830 --> 00:12:22,920 and I had an old typewriter and a big 218 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:23,730 idea 219 00:12:23,730 --> 00:12:26,970 and so rock-bottom became the solid 220 00:12:26,970 --> 00:12:30,259 foundation on which I rebuilt my life 221 00:12:30,259 --> 00:12:33,480 you might never fail on the scale I did 222 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,899 but some failure in life is inevitable 223 00:12:36,899 --> 00:12:40,980 it is impossible to live without failing 224 00:12:40,980 --> 00:12:43,169 at something unless you live so 225 00:12:43,169 --> 00:12:45,540 cautiously that you might as well not 226 00:12:45,540 --> 00:12:48,720 have lived at all in which case you fail 227 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,679 by default failure gave me an inner 228 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:54,449 security that I had never attained by 229 00:12:54,449 --> 00:12:57,449 passing examinations failure taught me 230 00:12:57,449 --> 00:12:58,889 things about myself that I could have 231 00:12:58,889 --> 00:13:01,829 learned no other way I discovered that I 232 00:13:01,829 --> 00:13:04,379 had a strong will and more discipline 233 00:13:04,379 --> 00:13:07,410 than I had suspected I also found out 234 00:13:07,410 --> 00:13:10,559 that I had friends whose value was truly 235 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,980 above the price of rubies the knowledge 236 00:13:13,980 --> 00:13:15,869 that you have emerged wiser and stronger 237 00:13:15,869 --> 00:13:18,119 from setbacks means that you are ever 238 00:13:18,119 --> 00:13:21,649 after secure in your ability to survive 239 00:13:21,649 --> 00:13:24,629 you will never truly know yourself or 240 00:13:24,629 --> 00:13:27,239 the strength of your relationships until 241 00:13:27,239 --> 00:13:30,480 both have been tested by adversity such 242 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,079 knowledge is a true gift for all that it 243 00:13:34,079 --> 00:13:36,779 is painfully one and it has been worth 244 00:13:36,779 --> 00:13:39,029 more than any qualification I ever 245 00:13:39,029 --> 00:13:43,169 earned so given a time Turner I would 246 00:13:43,169 --> 00:13:45,449 tell my 21 year old self that personal 247 00:13:45,449 --> 00:13:47,369 happiness lies in knowing that life is 248 00:13:47,369 --> 00:13:50,069 not a checklist of acquisition or 249 00:13:50,069 --> 00:13:52,799 achievement your qualifications 250 00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:55,859 your CV are not your life though you 251 00:13:55,859 --> 00:13:57,869 will meet many people of my age and 252 00:13:57,869 --> 00:14:00,989 older who confuse the two life is 253 00:14:00,989 --> 00:14:03,749 difficult and complicated and beyond 254 00:14:03,749 --> 00:14:06,779 anyone's total control and the humility 255 00:14:06,779 --> 00:14:09,359 to know that will enable you to survive 256 00:14:09,359 --> 00:14:13,739 its vicissitudes now you might think 257 00:14:13,739 --> 00:14:15,480 that I chose my second theme the 258 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,220 importance of imagination because of the 259 00:14:17,220 --> 00:14:19,709 part it played in rebuilding my life but 260 00:14:19,709 --> 00:14:22,259 that is not wholly so though I 261 00:14:22,259 --> 00:14:24,749 personally will defend the value of 262 00:14:24,749 --> 00:14:27,989 bedtime stories to my last gasp I have 263 00:14:27,989 --> 00:14:30,089 learned to value imagination in a much 264 00:14:30,089 --> 00:14:34,079 broader sense imagination is not only 265 00:14:34,079 --> 00:14:35,500 the uniquely human 266 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:37,810 capacity to envision that which is not 267 00:14:37,810 --> 00:14:41,050 and therefore the fount of all invention 268 00:14:41,050 --> 00:14:44,710 and innovation in its arguably most 269 00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:47,350 transformative and revelatory capacity 270 00:14:47,350 --> 00:14:49,750 it is the power that enables us to 271 00:14:49,750 --> 00:14:52,720 empathize with humans whose experiences 272 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,290 we have never shared one of the greatest 273 00:14:56,290 --> 00:14:57,940 formative experiences of my life 274 00:14:57,940 --> 00:15:00,670 preceded Harry Potter though it informed 275 00:15:00,670 --> 00:15:02,500 much of what I subsequently wrote in 276 00:15:02,500 --> 00:15:05,710 those books this revelation came in the 277 00:15:05,710 --> 00:15:07,860 form of one of my earliest day jobs 278 00:15:07,860 --> 00:15:10,060 though I was sloping off to write 279 00:15:10,060 --> 00:15:12,790 stories during my lunch hours I paid the 280 00:15:12,790 --> 00:15:15,880 rent in my early twenties by working at 281 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:17,740 the African research department of 282 00:15:17,740 --> 00:15:20,050 Amnesty International's headquarters in 283 00:15:20,050 --> 00:15:23,770 London there in my little office 284 00:15:23,770 --> 00:15:26,080 I read hastily scribbled letters 285 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,770 smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by 286 00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:31,120 men and women who were risking 287 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,400 imprisonment to inform the outside world 288 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,890 of what was happening to them I saw 289 00:15:35,890 --> 00:15:37,960 photographs of those who had disappeared 290 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,690 without trace sent to amnesty by their 291 00:15:40,690 --> 00:15:43,510 desperate families and friends I read 292 00:15:43,510 --> 00:15:46,240 the testimony of torture victims and saw 293 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,830 pictures of their injuries 294 00:15:47,830 --> 00:15:51,730 I opened handwritten eyewitness accounts 295 00:15:51,730 --> 00:15:54,510 of summary trials and executions of 296 00:15:54,510 --> 00:15:58,930 kidnappings and rapes many of my 297 00:15:58,930 --> 00:16:01,089 co-workers were ex political prisoners 298 00:16:01,089 --> 00:16:03,339 people who had been displaced from their 299 00:16:03,339 --> 00:16:06,370 homes or fled into exile because they 300 00:16:06,370 --> 00:16:08,500 had the temerity to speak against their 301 00:16:08,500 --> 00:16:11,410 governments visitors to our offices 302 00:16:11,410 --> 00:16:13,540 included those who who had come to give 303 00:16:13,540 --> 00:16:15,820 information or to try and find out what 304 00:16:15,820 --> 00:16:17,170 had happened to those who had they had 305 00:16:17,170 --> 00:16:21,160 left behind I shall never forget the 306 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,490 African torture victim a young man no 307 00:16:24,490 --> 00:16:26,980 older than I was at the time who had 308 00:16:26,980 --> 00:16:29,110 become mentally ill after all he had 309 00:16:29,110 --> 00:16:32,620 endured in his homeland he trembled 310 00:16:32,620 --> 00:16:34,990 uncontrollably as he spoke into a video 311 00:16:34,990 --> 00:16:37,390 camera about the brutality inflicted 312 00:16:37,390 --> 00:16:41,110 upon him he was a foot taller than I was 313 00:16:41,110 --> 00:16:45,190 and seemed as fragile as a child I was 314 00:16:45,190 --> 00:16:46,870 given the job of hints courting him back 315 00:16:46,870 --> 00:16:48,620 to the underground station after 316 00:16:48,620 --> 00:16:51,230 and this man whose life had been 317 00:16:51,230 --> 00:16:54,350 shattered by cruelty took my hand with 318 00:16:54,350 --> 00:16:57,320 exquisite courtesy and wished me future 319 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:01,580 happiness and as long as I live I shall 320 00:17:01,580 --> 00:17:03,740 remember walking along an empty corridor 321 00:17:03,740 --> 00:17:06,440 and suddenly hearing from behind a 322 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,380 closed door a scream of pain and horror 323 00:17:09,380 --> 00:17:12,530 such as I have never heard since the 324 00:17:12,530 --> 00:17:15,320 door opened and the researcher poked out 325 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,320 her out her head and told me to run and 326 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:20,240 make a hot drink for the young man 327 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,900 sitting with her she had just had to 328 00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:26,120 give him the news that in retaliation 329 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:28,610 for his outspokenness against his 330 00:17:28,610 --> 00:17:31,910 country's regime his mother had been 331 00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:37,070 seized and executed every day of my 332 00:17:37,070 --> 00:17:39,590 working week in my early twenties I was 333 00:17:39,590 --> 00:17:42,350 reminded how incredibly fortunate I was 334 00:17:42,350 --> 00:17:44,270 to live in a country with a 335 00:17:44,270 --> 00:17:46,730 democratically elected government where 336 00:17:46,730 --> 00:17:49,130 legal representation and a public trial 337 00:17:49,130 --> 00:17:53,150 were the rights of everyone everyday I 338 00:17:53,150 --> 00:17:55,960 saw more evidence about the evils 339 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:58,100 humankind will inflict on their fellow 340 00:17:58,100 --> 00:18:02,990 humans to gain or maintain power I began 341 00:18:02,990 --> 00:18:05,150 to have nightmares literal nightmares 342 00:18:05,150 --> 00:18:08,540 about some of the things I saw heard and 343 00:18:08,540 --> 00:18:14,510 read and yet I also learned more about 344 00:18:14,510 --> 00:18:17,540 human goodness at Amnesty International 345 00:18:17,540 --> 00:18:20,650 than I had ever known before 346 00:18:20,650 --> 00:18:23,480 amnesty mobilizes thousands of people 347 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:24,950 who have never been tortured or 348 00:18:24,950 --> 00:18:27,320 imprisoned for their beliefs to act on 349 00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:30,770 behalf of those who have the power of 350 00:18:30,770 --> 00:18:33,260 human empathy leading to collective 351 00:18:33,260 --> 00:18:37,120 action saves lives and frees prisoners 352 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:39,890 ordinary people whose personal 353 00:18:39,890 --> 00:18:42,890 well-being and security are assured join 354 00:18:42,890 --> 00:18:45,800 together in huge numbers to save people 355 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,950 they do not know and will never meet my 356 00:18:48,950 --> 00:18:51,800 small participation in that process was 357 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:53,560 one of the most humbling and inspiring 358 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,980 experiences of my life 359 00:18:56,980 --> 00:19:00,010 unlike any other creature on this planet 360 00:19:00,010 --> 00:19:02,770 human beings can learn and understand 361 00:19:02,770 --> 00:19:05,770 without having experienced they can 362 00:19:05,770 --> 00:19:07,900 think themselves into other people's 363 00:19:07,900 --> 00:19:12,010 places of course this is a power like my 364 00:19:12,010 --> 00:19:14,380 brand of fictional magic that is morally 365 00:19:14,380 --> 00:19:17,470 neutral one might use such an ability to 366 00:19:17,470 --> 00:19:20,980 manipulate or control just as much as to 367 00:19:20,980 --> 00:19:25,299 understand or sympathise and many prefer 368 00:19:25,299 --> 00:19:27,400 not to exercise their imaginations at 369 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,309 all they choose to remain comfortably 370 00:19:30,309 --> 00:19:31,540 within the bounds of their own 371 00:19:31,540 --> 00:19:34,150 experience never troubling to wonder how 372 00:19:34,150 --> 00:19:35,710 it would feel to have been born other 373 00:19:35,710 --> 00:19:38,710 than they are they can refuse to hear 374 00:19:38,710 --> 00:19:41,919 screams or peer inside cages they can 375 00:19:41,919 --> 00:19:44,200 close their minds and hearts to any 376 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:45,640 suffering that does not touch them 377 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:50,340 personally they can refuse to know I 378 00:19:50,340 --> 00:19:53,080 might be tempted to Envy people who can 379 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,570 live that way except that I do not think 380 00:19:55,570 --> 00:19:58,230 they have any fewer nightmares than I do 381 00:19:58,230 --> 00:20:01,360 choosing to live in narrow spaces leads 382 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,270 to a form of mental Agra phobia and that 383 00:20:04,270 --> 00:20:07,270 brings its own terrors I think the 384 00:20:07,270 --> 00:20:09,730 willfully unimaginative see more 385 00:20:09,730 --> 00:20:13,559 monsters they are often more afraid 386 00:20:13,559 --> 00:20:17,049 what is more those who choose not to 387 00:20:17,049 --> 00:20:20,230 empathize enable real monsters for 388 00:20:20,230 --> 00:20:21,700 without ever committing an act of 389 00:20:21,700 --> 00:20:24,070 outright evil ourselves we collude with 390 00:20:24,070 --> 00:20:28,750 it through our own apathy one of the 391 00:20:28,750 --> 00:20:30,460 many things I learned at the end of that 392 00:20:30,460 --> 00:20:32,500 classics corridor down which I ventured 393 00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:34,750 at the age of 18 in search of something 394 00:20:34,750 --> 00:20:37,600 I could not then define was this written 395 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,750 by the Greek author Plutarch what we 396 00:20:40,750 --> 00:20:43,390 achieve inwardly will change outer 397 00:20:43,390 --> 00:20:47,590 reality that is an astonishing statement 398 00:20:47,590 --> 00:20:49,809 and yet proven a thousand times every 399 00:20:49,809 --> 00:20:50,740 day of our lives 400 00:20:50,740 --> 00:20:54,070 it expresses in part our inescapable 401 00:20:54,070 --> 00:20:56,320 connection with the outside world the 402 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:58,120 fact that we touch other people's lives 403 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:02,200 simply by existing but how much more are 404 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:06,520 you Harvard graduates of 2008 lightly to 405 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,490 touch other people's lives your 406 00:21:09,490 --> 00:21:10,830 intelligence 407 00:21:10,830 --> 00:21:12,960 your capacity for hard work the 408 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,260 education you have earned and received 409 00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:19,170 give you unique unique status and unique 410 00:21:19,170 --> 00:21:22,290 responsibilities even your nationality 411 00:21:22,290 --> 00:21:26,010 sets you apart the great majority of you 412 00:21:26,010 --> 00:21:27,900 belong to the world's only remaining 413 00:21:27,900 --> 00:21:31,530 superpower the way you vote the way you 414 00:21:31,530 --> 00:21:34,650 live the way you protest the pressure 415 00:21:34,650 --> 00:21:36,930 you bring to bear on your government has 416 00:21:36,930 --> 00:21:39,780 an impact way beyond your borders that 417 00:21:39,780 --> 00:21:44,070 is your privilege and your burden if you 418 00:21:44,070 --> 00:21:46,500 choose to use your status and influence 419 00:21:46,500 --> 00:21:48,060 to raise your voice on behalf of those 420 00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:50,430 who have no voice if you choose to 421 00:21:50,430 --> 00:21:53,430 identify not only with the powerful but 422 00:21:53,430 --> 00:21:56,130 with the powerless if you retain the 423 00:21:56,130 --> 00:21:58,170 ability to imagine yourself into the 424 00:21:58,170 --> 00:21:59,760 lives of those who do not have your 425 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,280 advantages then it will not only be your 426 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:04,200 proud families who celebrate your 427 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,200 existence but thousands and millions of 428 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,540 people whose reality you have helped 429 00:22:09,540 --> 00:22:13,170 change we do not need magic to transform 430 00:22:13,170 --> 00:22:15,720 our world we carry all the power we need 431 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,420 inside ourselves already we have the 432 00:22:18,420 --> 00:22:22,620 power to imagine better I am nearly 433 00:22:22,620 --> 00:22:25,590 finished I have one last hope for you 434 00:22:25,590 --> 00:22:28,020 which is something that I already had at 435 00:22:28,020 --> 00:22:31,230 twenty one the friends with whom i sat 436 00:22:31,230 --> 00:22:33,330 on graduation day have been my friends 437 00:22:33,330 --> 00:22:35,580 for life they are my children's 438 00:22:35,580 --> 00:22:38,010 godparents the people to whom I've been 439 00:22:38,010 --> 00:22:40,400 able to turn in times of real trouble 440 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,690 people who have been kind enough not to 441 00:22:42,690 --> 00:22:44,550 sue me when I took their names for Death 442 00:22:44,550 --> 00:22:53,520 Eaters 443 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,830 at our graduation we were bound by 444 00:22:56,830 --> 00:22:59,200 enormous affection by our shared 445 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:00,970 experience of a time that could never 446 00:23:00,970 --> 00:23:01,510 come again 447 00:23:01,510 --> 00:23:04,570 and of course by the knowledge that we 448 00:23:04,570 --> 00:23:07,000 held certain photographic evidence that 449 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,660 would be exceptionally valuable if any 450 00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:14,730 of us ran for prime minister 451 00:23:14,730 --> 00:23:18,759 so today I wish you nothing better and 452 00:23:18,759 --> 00:23:22,960 similar friendships and tomorrow I hope 453 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,240 that even if you remember not a single 454 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:26,169 word of mine 455 00:23:26,169 --> 00:23:29,320 you remember those of Seneca another of 456 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,110 those old Romans I met when I fled down 457 00:23:32,110 --> 00:23:34,450 the classics corridor in retreat from 458 00:23:34,450 --> 00:23:37,779 from career ladders in search of ancient 459 00:23:37,779 --> 00:23:43,389 wisdom as is a tale so is life not how 460 00:23:43,389 --> 00:23:46,659 long it is but how good it is is what 461 00:23:46,659 --> 00:23:49,749 matters I wish you all very good lives 462 00:23:49,749 --> 00:24:06,909 thank you very much 463 00:24:06,909 --> 00:24:08,970 you