JK Rowling's speech on Fringe Benefits of Failure and Importance of Imagination

I love the key messages in this speech, so I am keeping a copy for the boys to read when they are older.

Speech by JK Rowling at the Harvard Graduation in June 2008, on 'The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination".

'.. so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.'

'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. '

'The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. '

'...personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, ...'

'As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.'