J. K. Rowling, author of the mega-popular Harry Potter books, was born in Chipping Sodbury, England in 1965. The name she was given at birth was “Joanne Rowling,” not “Joanne Kathleen Rowling,” because she actually has no middle name. The K was created after her publisher told her a more gender-neutral name would allow her to have more male readers.
Rowling is the most financially successful writer in literary history, thanks to her character Harry Potter. Her books have sold over 400 million copies around the world and made her the first author in history to become a billionaire from her writing. Her books have been translated into 65 different languages and Harry Potter has invaded every level of society in countries all around the world.
Rowling began writing at the age of six, aided by a brilliant imagination. Her first literary work was titled simply “Rabbit” and was about a small bunny coming down with the measles, but already apparent in the tale was Rowling’s incredible creativity and imagination. Stephen King even commented on this aspect of the Potter books: “They are a feat of which only a superior imagination is capable,” he said in an interview. But King expressed concern for the number of adverbs Rowling uses in her prose, which King suppresses in his own writing. He went on to say how much he appreciated Rowling’s sense of humor, and that the Harry Potter series will surely stand the test of time to eventually find its place alongside other literary classics, such as Huckleberry Fin and Treasure Island.
As a young person, J. K. Rowling was shy with lots of freckles and an absence of athletic ability. She loved literature more than anything else and majored in classical studies at the University of Exeter. She also focused on the French language in the hope of becoming a bilingual secretary, which her parents encouraged. Upon graduating, she took a job as a secretary and researcher at Amnesty International, which is a successful human rights company. But she admits she was not an especially good secretary since her keen imagination kept rising to the surface, causing her to spend too much time inventing new stories.
J. K. Rowling has now finished the last and (supposedly) final volume in the Harry Potter series, and currently has no plans to write an eighth volume. But she says it is tempting to return to that world, and may end up writing another Potter book after all. Her fans sincerely hope so.
Surely we can learn a great deal from a writer as successful as J. K. Rowling. Below are 20 of her quotes taken from interviews and the Harry Potter books.
J. K. Rowling Quotes
“Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
“If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.”
From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.”
“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”
“Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.”
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
“Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.”
From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
“The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution.”
From Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
“I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It’s totally for myself.”
“I really don’t believe in magic.”
“Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.”
From Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets
“What’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does.”
From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
“Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy.”
From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
“When you have seen as much of life as I have, you will not underestimate the power of obsessive love.”
From Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.”
From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
“Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences.”
“I will carry on writing, to be sure. But I don’t know if I would want to publish again after Harry Potter.”
“If you’re holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.”
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
From Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
by Jason Earls
American actress Jennifer Aniston says that the greatest challenge is love. The actress said that she’s still nervous whenever she falls in love.
