1、The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance ofImaginationHarvard University Commencement AddressJ.K. RowlingTercentenary 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President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud
2、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 extraordinaryhonour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve endured at the thought of giving thiscommencement address have made me lose we
3、ight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do istake deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largestGryffindors' 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魔法学院聚会上。Delivering a comm
4、encement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mindback to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished Britishphilosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously inwriting this one, because it turns ou
5、t that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberatingdiscovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you toabandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gaywizard.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
6、。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。You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead ofBaroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals - the first s
7、tep 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BaronessMary 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 askedmyself what I wish I had known at my o
