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 given 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 mobilizes 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，human beings 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 sympathize.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all.They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience，never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are.They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages；they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally；they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way，except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do.Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia，and that brings its own terrors.I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters.They are often more afraid.What is more，those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters.For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves，we collude with it，through our own apathy.
One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18，in search of something I could not then define，was this，written by the Greek author Plutarch：What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives.It expresses，in part，our inescapable connection with the outside world，the fact that we touch other people‘s lives simply by existing.
But how much more 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 to change.We do not need magic to transform 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 real trouble，people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I’ve used their names for Death Eaters.At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection，by our shared experience of a time that could never come again，and，of course，by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
So today，I 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.
译文参考
想象力的重要性
——J.K.罗琳在哈佛大学的演讲
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、以及全体毕业生们：
请允许我先说声谢谢。哈佛不仅赐予了这个我无上的荣誉，而且为这个演讲我连日来饱受恐惧和紧张的折磨，促使我减肥成功。真是一个双赢的局面！现在我要做的就是先深呼吸一下，眯起眼睛看看眼前的这条大红的横幅，我安慰自己现在正置身于世界上最大的格兰芬多聚会上。
发表毕业演说是需要承担很大责任的，至少在我回忆自己当年的毕业典礼前是这么认为的。那天为我们做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家Baroness Mary Warnock。对她那次演讲的回忆对我书写今天的演讲稿，产生了极大的作用，因为我已不记得她说过的任何一句话了。这个发现让我感到释然，让我不再感到忧虑，担心我可能会无意中影响你，让你放弃在商业、法律或政治上的大好前途，而醉心成为一个快乐的魔法师。
你们看，如果在若干年后你们还记得“快乐的魔法师”这个笑话，那就证明我已经超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。定一个可以实现的目标——提升自我就是你人生的第一步。实际上，我对今天要和你们谈的内容真是搜肠刮肚。我自问什么是我希望在毕业典礼上就了解的，而从那时起到现在的21年间，我又得到了什么重要的启示。