×

We use cookies to help make LingQ better. By visiting the site, you agree to our cookie policy.


image

TED Talks, JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

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 have 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 Gryffindor reunion. 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, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard. You see?

If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard' joke, I've come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. 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 that day and this. I have come up with two answers.

On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination. These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become.

Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those 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 the force of a cartoon anvil, now. So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature.

A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the 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 executive 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 that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools. What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak.

Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment. However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure.

You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown. Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it.

So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew. Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun.

That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality. So why do I talk about the benefits of failure?

Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable.

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. Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations.

Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies. 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. So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement.

Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes. Now you might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so.

Though I personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. 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 empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books.

This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working at the African research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London. There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them.

I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes. Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to speak against their governments.

Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had left behind. I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland.

He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him back to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness. And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since.

The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just had to give him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed. Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power.

I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard, and read. And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have.

The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life. Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced.

They can think 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 leads 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 empathise 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 are 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 change.

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 life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took 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 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: As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. I wish you all very good lives.

Thank you very much.

JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure JK Rowling: Die Nebeneffekte des Scheiterns JKローリング失敗がもたらす恩恵 JK 롤링: 실패의 부수적인 혜택 JK Rowling: Os benefícios marginais do fracasso Дж. К. Роулинг: Крайние преимущества неудач JK 罗琳失败的附带好处

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates. Präsident Faust, Mitglieder der Harvard Corporation und des Board of Overseers, Mitglieder der Fakultät, stolze Eltern und vor allem Absolventen. 浮士德校长、哈佛公司和监事会成员、教职员工、自豪的父母,以及最重要的是,毕业生们。

The first thing I would like to say is ‘thank you. Das erste, was ich sagen möchte, ist: Danke.

Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. Nicht nur, dass Harvard mir eine außerordentliche Ehre gegeben hat, sondern die Wochen der Angst und der Übelkeit, die ich bei dem Gedanken ertragen habe, diese Anfangsadresse zu geben, haben mich dazu gebracht, Gewicht zu verlieren. Harvard não apenas me deu uma honra extraordinária, mas as semanas de medo e náusea que eu sofri ao pensar em dar esse discurso de formatura me fizeram perder peso. A win-win situation! Eine 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 Gryffindor reunion. Jetzt muss ich nur noch tief durchatmen, auf die roten Banner schielen und mich davon überzeugen, dass ich bei der größten Gryffindor-Wiedervereinigung der Welt bin. Agora tudo o que tenho a fazer é respirar fundo, olhar de soslaio para as bandeiras vermelhas e me convencer de que estou na maior reunião da Grifinória do mundo. 现在我所要做的就是深吸一口气,眯着眼睛看着红色的横幅,让自己相信我正在参加世界上最大的格兰芬多聚会。 Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. Die Abgabe einer Anfangsadresse ist eine große Verantwortung; oder so, dachte ich, bis ich mich wieder an meinen Abschluss wandte. 发表毕业典礼演讲是一项重大责任;我是这么想的,直到我回想起自己的毕业典礼。

The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Der erste Redner an diesem Tag war die angesehene britische Philosophin 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. Das Nachdenken über ihre Rede hat mir enorm geholfen, dieses zu schreiben, weil es sich herausstellt, dass ich mich an kein einziges Wort erinnern kann, das sie gesagt hat. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard. Diese befreiende Entdeckung ermöglicht es mir, ohne Angst vorzugehen, dass ich dich unbeabsichtigt beeinflussen könnte, vielversprechende Karrieren in der Wirtschaft, im Gesetz oder in der Politik aufzugeben für die schwindelerregenden Freuden, ein schwuler Zauberer zu werden. 这一解放性的发现使我能够继续前进,而不用担心我可能会无意中影响你放弃商业、法律或政治方面有前途的职业,去享受成为同性恋巫师的令人眼花缭乱的乐趣。 You see? Siehst du?

If all you remember in years to come is the ‘gay wizard' joke, I’ve come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Wenn Sie sich in den kommenden Jahren nur noch an den Witz des "Schwulenzauberers" erinnern, bin ich Baroness Mary Warnock voraus. Se tudo o que você se lembra nos próximos anos é a piada de 'bruxo gay', saí à frente da Baronesa Mary Warnock. 如果你在未来几年只记得“同性恋巫师”的笑话,我已经领先于男爵夫人玛丽沃诺克。 Achievable goals: the first step to self improvement. Erreichbare Ziele: der erste Schritt zur Selbstverbesserung. Objetivos alcançáveis: o primeiro passo para o auto-aperfeiçoamento. Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. Eigentlich habe ich meine Gedanken und mein Herz für das, was ich dir heute sagen sollte, erschüttert. Na verdade, eu estraguei minha mente e meu coração pelo que devo lhe dizer hoje. 其实,为了今天要对你们说的话,我已经绞尽了脑汁。

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 that day and this. Ich habe mich gefragt, was ich mir bei meinem Abschluss gewünscht hätte und welche wichtigen Lektionen ich in den 21 Jahren gelernt habe, die zwischen diesem und jenem Tag verstrichen sind. 我问过自己,我希望在自己的毕业典礼上知道什么,以及从那天到现在已经过去的 21 年里,我学到了什么重要的教训。 I have come up with two answers. Ich habe zwei Antworten gefunden.

On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. An diesem wundervollen Tag, an dem wir uns versammeln, um Ihren akademischen Erfolg zu feiern, habe ich beschlossen, mit Ihnen über die Vorteile des Scheiterns zu sprechen. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called ‘real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination. Und während Sie an der Schwelle dessen stehen, was manchmal als "echtes Leben" bezeichnet wird, möchte ich die entscheidende Bedeutung der Imagination preisen. 当你站在有时被称为“现实生活”的门槛上时,我想赞扬想象力的至关重要性。 These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me. Diese mögen quixotische oder paradoxe Entscheidungen sein, aber bitte ertragen Sie mit mir. 这些可能看起来不切实际或自相矛盾的选择,但请多多包涵。

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Wenn ich auf die 21-Jährige zurückblicke, die ich im Abschluss war, ist das für die 42-Jährige, die sie geworden ist, eine etwas unangenehme Erfahrung. 回顾我毕业时的 21 岁,对于她已经成为 42 岁的人来说是一种略微不舒服的经历。

Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me. Vor halb so langer Zeit hatte ich ein unbehagliches Gleichgewicht zwischen dem Ehrgeiz, den ich für mich selbst hatte, und dem, was die, die mir am nächsten standen, von mir erwarteten. Metade da minha vida atrás, eu estava encontrando um equilíbrio desconfortável entre a ambição que tinha por mim mesma e o que aqueles que estavam mais próximos de mim esperavam de mim. 半生前,我在自己的雄心壮志与最亲近的人对我的期望之间取得了不安的平衡。 I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. Ich war überzeugt, dass das einzige, was ich jemals tun wollte, Romane zu schreiben.

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. Meine Eltern, die beide aus ärmlichen Verhältnissen stammten und von denen keiner zur Universität gegangen war, vertraten die Ansicht, dass meine überaktive Phantasie eine amüsante Eigenart sei, die niemals eine Hypothek bezahlen oder eine Rente sichern würde. No entanto, meus pais, ambos de origens pobres e nenhum dos quais cursou a faculdade, consideraram que minha imaginação hiperativa era uma peculiaridade pessoal divertida que nunca pagaria uma hipoteca ou garantiria uma pensão. 然而,我的父母都出身贫困,都没有上过大学,他们认为我过度活跃的想象力是一种有趣的个人怪癖,永远无法支付抵押贷款或获得养老金。 I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now. Ich weiß, dass die Ironie jetzt mit der Kraft eines Cartoon-Ambosses auffällt. Eu sei que a ironia ataca com a força de uma bigorna de desenho animado, agora. 我知道现在讽刺的是卡通铁砧的力量。 So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. Sie hofften also, dass ich einen beruflichen Abschluss machen würde; Ich wollte englische Literatur studieren. 所以他们希望我能获得职业学位;我想学习英国文学。

A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Ein Kompromiss wurde erreicht, der im Nachhinein niemanden zufrieden stellte, und ich ging hoch, um Modern Languages ​​zu lernen. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor. Kaum war das Auto meiner Eltern am Ende der Straße um die Ecke gerollt, als ich auf Deutsch landete und den Korridor der Classics hinunterlief. Dificilmente o carro dos meus pais dobrou a esquina no final da estrada e eu larguei alemão e saí correndo pelo corredor Classics. 我父母的车刚刚在路的尽头转过拐角,我就放弃了德语,沿着经典走廊疾驰而去。 I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Ich kann mich nicht erinnern, meinen Eltern gesagt zu haben, dass ich Klassiker studiere. Sie hätten es vielleicht zum ersten Mal am Abschlusstag herausgefunden. 我不记得告诉父母我在学习古典文学;他们很可能在毕业那天第一次发现。

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 executive bathroom. Von all den Themen auf diesem Planeten hätten sie meiner Meinung nach kaum einen nennenswerten Namen für die Schlüssel zu einem Exekutivbadezimmer gefunden. 在这个星球上的所有主题中,我想很难说出一个比希腊神话更没用的主题来保护行政浴室的钥匙。 I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. Ich möchte in Klammern klarstellen, dass ich meine Eltern nicht für ihre Sichtweise verantwortlich mache. 我想在括号中明确表示,我不会因为父母的观点而责怪他们。

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. Es gibt ein Verfalldatum, wenn du deine Eltern dafür verantwortlich machst, dass du dich in die falsche Richtung gelenkt hast; Sobald Sie alt genug sind, um das Steuer zu übernehmen, liegt die Verantwortung bei Ihnen. Existe um prazo de validade para culpar seus pais por levá-lo na direção errada; no momento em que você tem idade suficiente para assumir o volante, a responsabilidade está com você. 责备你的父母把你引向错误的方向是有期限的;当你长大到可以开车的时候,责任就落在你身上了。 What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. Mehr noch, ich kann meine Eltern nicht dafür kritisieren, dass ich niemals Armut erleben würde. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Sie waren selbst arm gewesen, und ich bin seitdem arm gewesen, und ich stimme ihnen völlig zu, dass es keine adelige Erfahrung ist. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Armut bedeutet Angst und Stress und manchmal Depressionen; es bedeutet tausend kleine Erniedrigungen und Entbehrungen. A pobreza implica medo, estresse e, às vezes, depressão; significa mil humilhações e dificuldades mesquinhas. 贫穷意味着恐惧、压力,有时甚至是抑郁;它意味着一千种微不足道的屈辱和艰辛。 Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools. Wenn Sie aus eigener Kraft aus der Armut herauskommen, ist das in der Tat etwas, auf das Sie sich stolz machen können, aber die Armut selbst wird nur von Narren romantisiert. Sair da pobreza com seus próprios esforços, isso é algo para se orgulhar, mas a pobreza em si é romantizada apenas por tolos. 靠自己的努力摆脱贫困,固然是一件值得骄傲的事情,但只有傻瓜才会把贫困本身浪漫化。 What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure. Was ich in deinem Alter am meisten fürchte, war nicht Armut, sondern Versagen.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers. In Ihrem Alter, trotz einer ausgeprägten Motivationlosigkeit an der Universität, wo ich viel zu lange in der Kaffeebar Geschichte geschrieben hatte und viel zu wenig Zeit in Vorlesungen verbracht hatte, hatte ich das Talent, Prüfungen abzulegen, und das seit Jahren , war das Maß für den Erfolg in meinem Leben und dem meiner Kollegen. Na sua idade, apesar de uma distinta falta de motivação na universidade, onde eu havia passado muito tempo no café escrevendo histórias e muito pouco tempo em palestras, eu tinha um talento especial para passar nos exames e isso, durante anos , tinha sido a medida do sucesso na minha vida e na dos meus colegas. 在你这个年纪,尽管在大学里明显缺乏动力,我在咖啡吧写故事的时间太长,听课的时间太少,但我有通过考试的诀窍,而且,多年来,一直是我和我的同龄人生活中成功的衡量标准。

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Ich bin nicht dumm genug zu glauben, dass du, weil du jung, begabt und gut ausgebildet bist, nie Schwierigkeiten oder Herzschmerz erlebt hast. Não sou tola o suficiente para supor que, por ser jovem, talentoso e bem-educado, nunca conheceu dificuldades ou desgostos. 我不会愚蠢到以为你年轻、有天赋、受过良好教育,你就不知道艰辛或心碎。

Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment. Talent und Intelligenz haben noch nie jemanden gegen die Willkür der Schicksale geimpft, und ich nehme nicht für einen Moment an, dass jeder hier eine Existenz von ungerührtem Privileg und Zufriedenheit genießt. O talento e a inteligência ainda não inocularam ninguém contra o capricho do destino, e nem por um momento suponho que todos aqui tenham desfrutado de uma existência de privilégio e satisfação incontroláveis. 天赋和智慧从未使任何人免于命运的反复无常,而且我一刻也不认为这里的每个人都享有无拘无束的特权和满足感。 However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. Die Tatsache, dass Sie von Harvard graduieren, deutet jedoch darauf hin, dass Sie mit dem Scheitern nicht sehr gut vertraut sind. 然而,你从哈佛毕业的事实表明你对失败不是很了解。

You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Sie werden vielleicht genauso von der Angst vor dem Scheitern getrieben wie der Wunsch nach Erfolg. 您可能会被对失败的恐惧和对成功的渴望所驱使。 Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown. In der Tat, Ihre Vorstellung des Scheiterns ist vielleicht nicht allzu weit von der Vorstellung des Durchschnittsmenschen entfernt, so hoch sind Sie schon geflogen. 事实上,你对失败的看法可能与一般人对成功的看法相去不远,你已经飞得很高了。 Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. Letztendlich müssen wir alle selbst entscheiden, was Versagen bedeutet, aber die Welt ist sehr darauf erpicht, Ihnen eine Reihe von Kriterien zu geben, wenn Sie es zulassen. Por fim, todos nós temos que decidir por nós mesmos o que constitui fracasso, mas o mundo está ansioso por fornecer um conjunto de critérios, se você permitir. 归根结底,我们都必须自己决定什么是失败,但如果你愿意,这个世界非常渴望给你一套标准。

So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. Ich denke also, dass ich mit einer konventionellen Maßnahme, nur sieben Jahre nach meinem Abschlusstag, in einem epischen Ausmaß versagt habe. 因此,我认为可以公平地说,以任何常规标准衡量,在我毕业后仅七年,我就遭遇了史诗般的失败。 An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. Eine außergewöhnlich kurzlebige Ehe war implodiert, ich war arbeitslos, allein erziehend und so arm, wie es im modernen Großbritannien möglich ist, ohne obdachlos zu sein. 一段异常短暂的婚姻破裂了,我失业了,是一个单身父母,在现代英国尽可能贫穷,但又不是无家可归。 The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew. Die Befürchtungen, die meine Eltern für mich gehabt hatten und die ich für mich gehabt hatte, waren beide eingetreten, und bei jedem üblichen Standard war ich der größte Fehler, den ich kannte. 我父母对我的恐惧,以及我对自己的恐惧,都应验了,按照每一个通常的标准,我是我所知道的最大的失败者。 Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. Nun, ich werde nicht hier stehen und dir sagen, dass Versagen Spaß macht.

That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. Diese Zeit meines Lebens war eine dunkle, und ich hatte keine Ahnung, dass es das geben würde, was die Presse seither als eine Art Märchenresolution darstellt. 我生命中的那段时期是黑暗的,我不知道媒体会从那以后将其描述为一种童话般的解决方案。 I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality. Ich hatte keine Ahnung, wie weit der Tunnel reichte und lange Zeit war jedes Licht am Ende eher eine Hoffnung als eine Realität. 那时我不知道隧道延伸了多远,很长一段时间,隧道尽头的任何光亮都是希望而不是现实。 So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Warum rede ich über die Vorteile des Scheiterns?

Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. Einfach deshalb, weil das Scheitern das Unwesentliche wegzerrte. Simplesmente porque o fracasso significava afastar o essencial. 仅仅是因为失败意味着剥离不必要的东西。 I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Ich hörte auf, mir vorzutäuschen, dass ich etwas anderes war als ich und begann, all meine Energie darauf zu richten, die einzige Arbeit abzuschließen, die mir wichtig war. 我不再假装我不是我自己,而是开始将我所有的精力投入到完成对我来说唯一重要的工作上。 Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. Hätte ich wirklich etwas anderes erreicht, hätte ich vielleicht nie die Entschlossenheit gefunden, in der einen Arena Erfolg zu haben, von der ich glaubte, dass ich wirklich dazugehörte. 如果我真的在其他任何事情上都取得了成功,我可能永远不会找到在我认为自己真正属于的那个领域取得成功的决心。 I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. Ich wurde freigelassen, weil meine größte Angst erkannt worden war, und ich lebte noch, und ich hatte immer noch eine Tochter, die ich verehrte, und ich hatte eine alte Schreibmaschine und eine große Idee. 我获得了自由,因为我最大的恐惧已经实现,而且我还活着,我还有一个我深爱的女儿,我还有一台旧打字机和一个好主意。 And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. Und so wurde der Tiefpunkt zum festen Fundament, auf dem ich mein Leben wieder aufgebaut habe. E assim o fundo do poço se tornou a base sólida sobre a qual reconstruí minha vida. 因此,最低点成为我重建生活的坚实基础。 You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. Du wirst vielleicht niemals in dem Ausmaß versagen, wie ich es getan habe, aber ein Versagen im Leben ist unvermeidlich. Você pode nunca falhar na escala que eu fiz, mas alguma falha na vida é inevitável.

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. Es ist unmöglich zu leben, ohne an etwas zu versagen, es sei denn, du lebst so vorsichtig, dass du überhaupt nicht gelebt hättest - in diesem Fall versagst du standardmäßig. É impossível viver sem falhar em algo, a menos que você viva com tanta cautela que talvez não tenha vivido - nesse caso, você falha por padrão. 在某些事情上不失败是不可能的,除非你生活得如此谨慎以至于你还不如根本没有生活过——在这种情况下,你默认失败了。 Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Das Versagen gab mir eine innere Sicherheit, die ich nie durch Ablegen von Prüfungen erreicht hatte. O fracasso me dava uma segurança interna que eu nunca havia alcançado nos exames.

Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. Das Scheitern hat mir Dinge über mich selbst beigebracht, die ich anders nicht hätte lernen können. O fracasso me ensinou coisas sobre mim mesmo que eu não poderia ter aprendido de outra maneira. 失败教会了我一些我无法通过其他方式学到的关于我自己的事情。 I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies. Ich entdeckte, dass ich einen starken Willen und mehr Disziplin hatte, als ich vermutet hatte; Ich fand auch heraus, dass ich Freunde hatte, deren Wert wirklich über dem Preis von Rubinen lag. Descobri que tinha uma vontade forte e mais disciplina do que suspeitava; Também descobri que tinha amigos cujo valor estava realmente acima do preço dos rubis. 我发现我有坚强的意志,比我想象的更自律;我也发现我有一些朋友,他们的价值真的超过了红宝石的价格。 The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. Das Wissen, dass Sie aus Rückschlägen klüger und stärker geworden sind, bedeutet, dass Sie immer in Ihrer Überlebensfähigkeit sicher sind. O conhecimento de que você emergiu mais sábio e mais forte dos contratempos significa que, para sempre, estará seguro em sua capacidade de sobreviver. 知道你已经从挫折中变得更聪明、更坚强,这意味着你从此以后在生存能力方面是有保障的。

You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Du wirst dich niemals wirklich selbst oder die Stärke deiner Beziehungen erkennen, bis beide durch Widrigkeiten getestet wurden. 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. Solches Wissen ist ein wahres Geschenk, für alles, was es schmerzhaft gewonnen hat, und es war mehr wert als jede Qualifikation, die ich jemals verdient habe. 这样的知识是一份真正的礼物,尽管它是通过痛苦获得的,而且它比我获得的任何资格都更有价值。 So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Bei einem Zeitumkehrer würde ich meinem 21-jährigen Selbst sagen, dass persönliches Glück darin liegt, zu wissen, dass das Leben keine Check-Liste von Erwerb oder Leistung ist. Assim, dado um Time Turner, eu diria a meu eu de 21 anos que a felicidade pessoal reside em saber que a vida não é uma lista de verificação de aquisição ou conquista. 因此,如果我有一台 Time Turner,我会告诉 21 岁的自己,个人幸福在于知道生活不是获取或成就的清单。

Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Deine Qualifikationen, dein Lebenslauf, sind nicht dein Leben, obwohl du viele Leute meines Alters und älter treffen wirst, die die zwei verwirren. 你的资历,你的简历,不是你的生活,尽管你会遇到许多与我同龄或年长的人,他们混淆了两者。 Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes. Das Leben ist schwierig und kompliziert und jenseits jeder totalen Kontrolle, und die Demut zu wissen, die es dir ermöglichen wird, seine Wechselfälle zu überleben. 生活是艰难的,复杂的,超出任何人的完全控制,知道这一点的谦逊将使你能够在它的沧桑中幸存下来。 Now you might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Nun könnte man denken, dass ich mein zweites Thema gewählt habe, die Bedeutung der Einbildungskraft, wegen der Rolle, die es bei der Wiederherstellung meines Lebens spielte, aber das ist nicht ganz so. Agora você pode pensar que escolhi meu segundo tema, a importância da imaginação, devido ao papel que desempenhou na reconstrução da minha vida, mas isso não é totalmente verdade. 现在你可能认为我选择了第二个主题,即想象力的重要性,因为它在重建我的生活中发挥了作用,但事实并非如此。

Though I personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Obwohl ich persönlich den Wert der Gute-Nacht-Geschichten bis zu meinem letzten Atemzug verteidigen werde, habe ich gelernt, die Imagination in einem viel weiteren Sinne zu schätzen. Embora eu pessoalmente defenda o valor das histórias de ninar até meu último suspiro, aprendi a valorizar a imaginação em um sentido muito mais amplo. 尽管我个人会死死捍卫睡前故事的价值,但我已经学会在更广泛的意义上重视想象力。 Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. Phantasie ist nicht nur die einzigartige menschliche Fähigkeit, sich das vorzustellen, was nicht ist, und daher der Ursprung aller Erfindungen und Innovationen. 想像力不仅是人类独有的想象非现实事物的能力,因此也是所有发明和创新的源泉。 In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared. In ihrer wohl transformativsten und enthüllungsstärksten Eigenschaft ist es die Kraft, die uns befähigt, mit Menschen in Kontakt zu kommen, deren Erfahrungen wir nie geteilt haben. Em sua capacidade indiscutivelmente mais transformadora e reveladora, é o poder que nos permite ter empatia com os seres humanos cujas experiências nunca compartilhamos. 它可以说是最具变革性和启示性的能力,它是使我们能够同情那些我们从未分享过其经历的人的力量。 One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. Eine der größten prägenden Erfahrungen meines Lebens ging Harry Potter voraus, obwohl es vieles von dem, was ich später in diesen Büchern schrieb, informierte. 哈利波特之前是我生命中最重要的成长经历之一,尽管它对我后来在这些书中写的内容有很大影响。

This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Diese Offenbarung kam in Form einer meiner frühesten Tagesjobs. 这个启示以我最早的一份日常工作的形式出现。 Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working at the African research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London. Obwohl ich während meiner Mittagspause abstürzte, um Geschichten zu schreiben, zahlte ich die Miete in meinen frühen 20ern, indem ich in der afrikanischen Forschungsabteilung am Hauptsitz von Amnesty International in London arbeitete. Embora estivesse inclinado a escrever histórias durante o horário de almoço, paguei o aluguel aos 20 e poucos anos trabalhando no departamento de pesquisa africano na sede da Anistia Internacional em Londres. 虽然我在午餐时间偷偷写故事,但我在 20 岁出头时在大赦国际伦敦总部的非洲研究部工作,付了房租。 There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. Dort in meinem kleinen Büro las ich hastig gekritzelte Briefe, die von totalitären Regimen von Männern und Frauen geschmuggelt wurden, die eine Inhaftierung riskierten, um die Außenwelt darüber zu informieren, was mit ihnen geschah. Lá, em meu pequeno escritório, li cartas rabiscadas às pressas, contrabandeadas de regimes totalitários por homens e mulheres que estavam arriscando a prisão para informar o mundo exterior do que estava acontecendo com eles. 在我的小办公室里,我读到匆忙潦草的信件,这些信件是冒着被监禁的危险从极权主义政权中偷运出来的,他们向外界通报了发生在他们身上的事情。

I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. Ich sah Fotos von denen, die spurlos verschwunden waren und von ihren verzweifelten Familien und Freunden an Amnesty geschickt wurden. 我看到了那些失踪者的照片,这些照片是他们绝望的家人和朋友寄给国际特赦组织的。 I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. Ich las das Zeugnis von Folteropfern und sah Bilder von ihren Verletzungen. 我阅读了酷刑受害者的证词,看到了他们受伤的照片。 I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes. Ich habe handschriftliche Augenzeugenberichte von Schnellverfahren und Exekutionen, von Entführungen und Vergewaltigungen geöffnet. 我打开了关于简易审判和处决、绑架和强奸的手写目击证词。 Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to speak against their governments. Viele meiner Mitarbeiter waren ehemalige politische Gefangene, Menschen, die aus ihren Häusern vertrieben worden waren oder ins Exil geflohen waren, weil sie die Kühnheit hatten, gegen ihre Regierungen zu sprechen. 我的许多同事都是前政治犯,他们流离失所或流亡海外,因为他们敢于发表反对政府的言论。

Visitors to our offices included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had left behind. Zu den Besuchern unserer Büros gehörten diejenigen, die gekommen waren, um Informationen zu geben oder herauszufinden, was mit denen geschehen war, die sie zurückgelassen hatten. Os visitantes de nossos escritórios incluíam aqueles que vieram dar informações ou tentar descobrir o que havia acontecido com aqueles que haviam deixado para trás. 我们办公室的来访者包括那些前来提供信息或试图了解他们留下的人的下落的人。 I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. Ich werde niemals das afrikanische Folteropfer vergessen, einen jungen Mann, der nicht älter war als ich zu der Zeit, der nach allem, was er in seinem Heimatland ertragen hatte, geisteskrank geworden war. Jamais esquecerei a vítima de tortura africana, um jovem não mais velho do que eu na época, que adoeceu mentalmente depois de tudo o que havia sofrido em sua terra natal. 我永远不会忘记那个非洲酷刑受害者,当时他是一个比我大不了多少的年轻人,在他的祖国遭受了那么多折磨之后,他患上了精神疾病。

He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. Er zitterte unkontrolliert, als er in eine Videokamera über die Brutalität sprach, die ihm zugefügt wurde. Ele tremia incontrolavelmente enquanto falava em uma câmera de vídeo sobre a brutalidade infligida a ele. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. Er war einen Meter größer als ich und schien so zerbrechlich wie ein Kind. Ele era um pé mais alto do que eu e parecia tão frágil quanto uma criança. I was given the job of escorting him back to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness. Ich bekam den Auftrag, ihn danach zur U-Bahn-Station zu begleiten, und dieser Mann, dessen Leben durch Grausamkeit zerstört worden war, nahm meine Hand mit vorzüglicher Höflichkeit und wünschte mir zukünftiges Glück. Fui encarregado de acompanhá-lo de volta à estação de metrô depois, e esse homem cuja vida havia sido destruída pela crueldade pegou minha mão com uma cortesia requintada e me desejou felicidade futura. And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. Und so lange ich lebe, werde ich mich daran erinnern, einen leeren Korridor entlang zu gehen und plötzlich hinter einer verschlossenen Tür einen Schrei des Schmerzes und Entsetzens zu hören, wie ich ihn seither nie mehr gehört habe. E enquanto eu viver, me lembrarei de caminhar por um corredor vazio e de repente ouvir, por trás de uma porta fechada, um grito de dor e horror como nunca ouvi desde então. 只要我还活着,我就会记得走在一条空荡荡的走廊上,突然从一扇紧闭的门后听到一声痛苦和恐惧的尖叫,那是我此后从未听到过的。

The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. Die Tür ging auf, und die Forscherin streckte ihren Kopf aus und sagte, ich solle rennen und dem jungen Mann, der bei ihr saß, ein heißes Getränk machen. A porta se abriu e a pesquisadora enfiou a cabeça e me disse para correr e fazer uma bebida quente para o jovem sentado com ela. 门打开了,研究员探出头来让我跑去给坐在她旁边的年轻人冲一杯热饮。 She had just had to give him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country’s regime, his mother had been seized and executed. Sie hatte ihm nur die Nachricht geben müssen, dass seine Mutter als Vergeltung für seine eigene Offenheit gegen das Regime seines Landes beschlagnahmt und hingerichtet worden war. 她刚刚不得不告诉他一个消息,为了报复他对国家政权的直言不讳,他的母亲被逮捕并处决了。 Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone. Jeden Tag meiner Arbeitswoche in meinen frühen Zwanzigern wurde ich daran erinnert, wie unglaublich glücklich ich war, in einem Land mit einer demokratisch gewählten Regierung zu leben, wo Rechtsvertretung und ein öffentlicher Prozess die Rechte aller waren. Todos os dias da minha semana de trabalho, nos meus 20 e poucos anos, me lembrava como era incrivelmente feliz viver em um país com um governo eleito democraticamente, onde a representação legal e um julgamento público eram os direitos de todos. 在我 20 岁出头的工作周的每一天,我都被提醒我是多么幸运,生活在一个拥有民主选举政府的国家,法律代表和公开审判是每个人的权利。

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. Jeden Tag sah ich mehr Beweise über die Übel, die die Menschheit ihren Mitmenschen zufügen wird, um Macht zu gewinnen oder zu behalten. 每一天,我都看到更多关于人类将对他们的同胞施加邪恶以获取或维持权力的证据。

I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard, and read. Ich begann Alpträume, buchstäbliche Albträume, über einige der Dinge, die ich sah, hörte und las. Comecei a ter pesadelos, pesadelos literais, sobre algumas das coisas que vi, ouvi e li. 我开始做噩梦,真正的噩梦,关于我看到、听到和读到的一些事情。 And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before. Und doch habe ich bei Amnesty International auch mehr über menschliche Güte erfahren als je zuvor. E, no entanto, também aprendi mais sobre a bondade humana na Anistia Internacional do que jamais havia conhecido antes.

Amnesty mobilises thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. Amnesty mobilisiert Tausende von Menschen, die noch nie gefoltert oder eingesperrt wurden, weil ihre Überzeugungen für diejenigen, die sie haben, handeln. 大赦动员了成千上万从未因信仰遭受酷刑或监禁的人代表那些曾经遭受过酷刑或监禁的人采取行动。

The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Die Kraft der menschlichen Empathie, die zu kollektivem Handeln führt, rettet Leben und befreit Gefangene. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. Gewöhnliche Menschen, deren persönliches Wohlergehen und Sicherheit gesichert sind, schließen sich in großer Zahl zusammen, um Menschen zu retten, die sie nicht kennen und die sich nie treffen werden. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life. Meine kleine Teilnahme an diesem Prozess war eine der demütigendsten und inspirierendsten Erfahrungen meines Lebens. 我在那个过程中的小小参与是我一生中最谦卑和鼓舞人心的经历之一。 Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. Im Gegensatz zu jeder anderen Kreatur auf diesem Planeten können Menschen lernen und verstehen, ohne es erfahren zu haben. 与这个星球上的任何其他生物不同,人类可以在没有经历的情况下学习和理解。

They can think themselves into other people’s places. Sie können sich in die Orte anderer Leute hineindenken. Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. Natürlich ist das eine Macht, wie meine fiktionale Magie, die moralisch neutral ist. 当然,这是一种力量,就像我虚构的魔法一样,在道德上是中立的。

One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise. Man könnte eine solche Fähigkeit benutzen, zu manipulieren oder zu kontrollieren, genauso viel wie zu verstehen oder zu sympathisieren. 人们可能会使用这种能力来操纵或控制,就像理解或同情一样。 And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. Und viele ziehen es vor, ihre Phantasie überhaupt nicht auszuüben. 许多人根本不喜欢发挥他们的想象力。

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. Sie entscheiden sich, bequem in den Grenzen ihrer eigenen Erfahrung zu bleiben, ohne sich jemals zu fragen, wie es sich anfühlen würde, anders geboren zu sein als sie sind. Eles escolhem permanecer confortavelmente dentro dos limites de sua própria experiência, nunca se preocupando em imaginar como seria ter nascido diferente do que são. 他们选择在自己的经历范围内舒适地生活,从不费心去想如果出生在其他地方会是什么感觉。 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. Sie können sich weigern, Schreie zu hören oder in Käfige zu schauen; sie können ihre Gedanken und Herzen für jedes Leid schließen, das sie nicht persönlich berührt; sie können es ablehnen, es zu wissen. Eles podem se recusar a ouvir gritos ou espiar dentro das gaiolas; eles podem fechar suas mentes e corações a qualquer sofrimento que não os toque pessoalmente; eles podem se recusar a saber. 他们可以拒绝听到尖叫声或在笼子里窥视;他们可以对任何不会触及他们个人的痛苦关闭他们的思想和心灵;他们可以拒绝知道。 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. Ich könnte versucht sein, Leute zu beneiden, die so leben können, außer dass ich nicht glaube, dass sie weniger Albträume haben als ich. 我可能会忍不住羡慕那些可以那样生活的人,只是我认为他们的噩梦并不比我少。

Choosing to live in narrow spaces leads to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. Die Wahl, in engen Räumen zu leben, führt zu einer Form von mentaler Agoraphobie, die ihre eigenen Schrecken mit sich bringt. Escolher viver em espaços estreitos leva a uma forma de agorafobia mental, e isso traz seus próprios terrores. I think the wilfully unimaginative see more monsters. Ich denke, die vorsätzlich phantasielosen sehen mehr Monster. Eu acho que os sem imaginação imaginam mais monstros. They are often more afraid. Sie haben oft mehr Angst. Eles costumam ter mais medo. What is more, those who choose not to empathise enable real monsters. Darüber hinaus ermöglichen diejenigen, die sich nicht einfühlen, echte Monster. Além disso, aqueles que optam por não sentir empatia habilitam monstros reais. 更重要的是,那些选择不去同情的人会成为真正的怪物。

For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy. Denn ohne uns selbst jemals einen Akt des absoluten Bösen zu begehen, gehen wir mit ihm in Konflikt, durch unsere eigene Apathie. Pois, sem jamais cometer um ato de maldade total, conspiramos com ele, por meio de nossa própria apatia. 因为我们自己从未犯下彻头彻尾的邪恶行为,我们通过自己的冷漠与它勾结。 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. Eines der vielen Dinge, die ich am Ende dieses klassischen Korridors gelernt habe, den ich im Alter von 18 Jahren auf der Suche nach etwas suchte, das ich nicht definieren konnte, war das, geschrieben vom griechischen Autor Plutarch: Was wir innerlich erreichen, wird sich ändern äußere Realität. Uma das muitas coisas que aprendi no final do corredor dos clássicos, que me aventurei aos 18 anos, em busca de algo que não conseguia definir, foi o escrito pelo autor grego Plutarco: o que alcançarmos interiormente mudará realidade externa. 我在 18 岁冒险探索的那条经典走廊的尽头学到的许多事情之一是希腊作家普鲁塔克写的:我们内心的成就将改变外在现实。

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. Das ist eine erstaunliche Aussage und hat sich tausendmal jeden Tag unseres Lebens bewährt. Essa é uma afirmação surpreendente e, ainda assim, provada mil vezes todos os dias de nossas vidas. 这是一个惊人的声明,但在我们生活的每一天都被证实了一千次。

It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing. Es drückt zum Teil unsere unausweichliche Verbindung mit der Außenwelt aus, die Tatsache, dass wir das Leben anderer Menschen einfach durch das Existieren berühren. Expressa, em parte, nossa conexão inevitável com o mundo exterior, o fato de tocarmos a vida de outras pessoas simplesmente por existir. 它在某种程度上表达了我们与外部世界不可避免的联系,即我们仅仅通过存在就能触及他人的生活。 But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Aber wie viel mehr werden Sie, Harvard-Absolventen von 2008, wahrscheinlich das Leben anderer Menschen berühren?

Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Ihre Intelligenz, Ihre Fähigkeit zu harter Arbeit, die Ausbildung, die Sie erworben und erhalten haben, geben Ihnen einen einzigartigen Status und einzigartige Verantwortlichkeiten. Sua inteligência, sua capacidade de trabalhar duro, a educação que você ganhou e recebeu, dão a você um status único e responsabilidades únicas. Even your nationality sets you apart. Selbst deine Nationalität unterscheidet dich. Até a sua nacionalidade o diferencia. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining superpower. Die große Mehrheit von euch gehört zur einzigen Supermacht der Welt. 你们中的绝大多数人属于世界上仅存的超级大国。 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. Die Art, wie Sie wählen, die Art, wie Sie leben, die Art, wie Sie protestieren, der Druck, den Sie auf Ihre Regierung ausüben, wirkt sich weit über Ihre Grenzen hinaus aus. 你的投票方式、你的生活方式、你的抗议方式、你给政府施加的压力,都会产生超越国界的影响。 That is your privilege, and your burden. Das ist dein Privileg und deine Last. Esse é o seu privilégio e seu fardo. 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 change. Wenn Sie sich dafür entscheiden, Ihren Status und Ihren Einfluss zu nutzen, um Ihre Stimme für diejenigen zu erhöhen, die keine Stimme haben; wenn Sie sich entscheiden, nicht nur mit den Mächtigen, sondern mit den Machtlosen zu identifizieren; Wenn du die Fähigkeit behältst, dich in das Leben derer hineinzudenken, die deine Vorteile nicht haben, dann werden nicht nur deine stolzen Familien deine Existenz feiern, sondern auch Tausende und Abermillionen von Menschen, deren Realität du geholfen hast, dich zu verändern. Se você optar por usar seu status e influência para elevar sua voz em nome daqueles que não têm voz; se você optar por se identificar não apenas com os poderosos, mas com os impotentes; se você mantiver a capacidade de se imaginar na vida daqueles que não têm suas vantagens, não serão apenas suas famílias orgulhosas que comemoram sua existência, mas milhares e milhões de pessoas cuja realidade você ajudou a mudar. 如果您选择利用您的地位和影响力为那些没有发言权的人发声;如果你选择不仅认同强者,而且认同弱者;如果你保留了想象自己进入那些没有你优势的人的生活的能力,那么庆祝你存在的不仅是你自豪的家庭,还有成千上万的人,他们的现实是你帮助改变的。

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. Wir brauchen keine Magie, um die Welt zu verändern, wir tragen bereits alle Kraft, die wir in uns selbst brauchen: Wir können uns besser vorstellen. Não precisamos de mágica para mudar o mundo, já carregamos todo o poder que precisamos dentro de nós: temos o poder de imaginar melhor. 我们不需要魔法来改变世界,我们内心已经拥有我们需要的所有力量:我们有能力想象得更好。 I am nearly finished. Ich bin fast fertig. Estou quase terminando.

I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. Ich habe eine letzte Hoffnung für dich, die ich bereits um 21 hatte. Tenho uma última esperança para você, que é algo que eu já tinha aos 21 anos. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. Die Freunde, mit denen ich am Abschlusstag saß, waren meine Freunde fürs Leben. Os amigos com quem me sentei no dia da formatura foram meus amigos para sempre. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters. Sie sind die Paten meiner Kinder, die Menschen, denen ich mich in schwierigen Zeiten zuwenden konnte, Leute, die so nett waren, mich nicht zu verklagen, wenn ich ihre Namen für Todesser nannte. Eles são os padrinhos dos meus filhos, as pessoas para quem pude me virar em tempos difíceis, pessoas que tiveram a gentileza de não me processar quando eu levei o nome de Comensais da Morte. 他们是我孩子的教父母,是我在遇到麻烦时可以求助的人,是那些在我为食死徒取名时非常友善没有起诉我的人。 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. Bei unserem Abschluss waren wir von enormer Zuneigung geprägt, von unserer gemeinsamen Erfahrung einer Zeit, die nie wieder kommen konnte, und natürlich von dem Wissen, dass wir bestimmte fotografische Beweise besaßen, die von außerordentlicher Wert wären, wenn einer von uns zum Premierminister kandidieren würde . Em nossa formatura, estávamos amarrados por enorme carinho, por nossa experiência compartilhada de um tempo que nunca mais poderia voltar e, é claro, pelo conhecimento de que possuíamos certas evidências fotográficas que seriam excepcionalmente valiosas se algum de nós concorrer ao Primeiro Ministro . 在我们毕业时,我们被深厚的感情所束缚,被我们共同经历的一个永远不会再发生的时代所束缚,当然,我们知道我们持有某些照片证据,如果我们中的任何人竞选总理,这些证据将非常有价值. So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships. Heute wünsche ich Ihnen nichts Besseres als ähnliche Freundschaften. Hoje, desejo-lhe nada melhor do que amizades semelhantes.

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: As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. Und morgen, hoffe ich, dass, selbst wenn du dich an kein einziges Wort von mir erinnerst, an jene von Seneca, einem anderen jener alten Römer, die ich getroffen habe, als ich auf der Suche nach alter Weisheit den klassischen Korridor entlangflog, auf der Flucht vor Karriereleitern. Wie ist eine Geschichte, so ist das Leben: nicht wie lange es ist, aber wie gut es ist, ist was zählt. E amanhã, espero que, mesmo que você não se lembre de nenhuma palavra minha, lembre-se das de Sêneca, outro daqueles romanos antigos que conheci quando fugi pelo corredor dos Clássicos, em retirada das escadas da carreira, em busca da sabedoria antiga: Como é um conto, também é a vida: não quanto tempo é, mas como é bom, é o que importa. 明天,我希望即使你不记得我说的一个字,你也记得塞内卡的话,他是我逃离经典走廊时遇到的另一个古罗马人,从职业阶梯上撤退,寻找古老的智慧:故事如此,生活亦如此:重要的不是它有多长,而是它有多美好。 I wish you all very good lives. Ich wünsche Ihnen allen ein sehr gutes Leben. Desejo a todos uma vida muito boa.

Thank you very much. Vielen Dank.