WEBVTT 00:00:08.449 --> 00:00:23.519 [Applause] 00:00:25.118 --> 00:00:29.599 President F, 00:00:27.599 --> 00:00:31.759 members of the Harvard Corporation and 00:00:29.599 --> 00:00:35.280 the board of overseers, 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:38.559 members of the faculty, proud parents, 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:40.480 and above all graduates. 00:00:38.558 --> 00:00:43.759 The first thing I would like to say is 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:46.799 thank you. Not only has Harvard given me 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:51.479 an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:51.479 fear and nausea I have endured 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:56.000 at the thought of giving this 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:59.000 commencement address have made me lose 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.000 weight. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:07.118 A win-win situation. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:10.560 Now all I have to do is take deep 00:01:07.118 --> 00:01:12.719 breaths, squint at the red banners, 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:17.478 and convince myself that that I am at 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:17.478 the world's largest Gryffindor reunion. 00:01:25.438 --> 00:01:29.438 Delivering a commencement address is a 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:32.959 great responsibility. 00:01:29.438 --> 00:01:35.519 Or so I thought until I cast my mind 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:37.679 back to my own graduation. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:39.840 The commencement speaker that day was 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:42.400 the distinguished British philosopher 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:44.960 Baroness Mary Warick. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:47.600 Reflecting on her speech has helped me 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:49.359 enormously in writing this one because 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:53.158 it turns out that I can't remember a 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:53.159 single word she said. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:03.560 This liberating discovery enables me to 00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:03.560 proceed 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:09.038 without any fear that I might 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:11.120 inadvertently influence you 00:02:09.038 --> 00:02:13.759 to abandon promising careers in 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:18.680 business, the law, or politics for the 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:18.679 giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:32.560 You see, if all you remember in years to 00:02:30.239 --> 00:02:37.159 come is the gay wizard joke, I've come 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.159 out ahead of Baroness Mary Warner. 00:02:39.519 --> 00:02:45.080 Achievable goals, the first step to 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.080 self-improvement. 00:02:46.239 --> 00:02:50.719 Actually, I have wrapped my mind and 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:54.159 heart for what I ought to say to you 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:56.639 today. I have asked myself what I wish I 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:58.639 had known at my own graduation 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:01.039 and what important lessons I have 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:04.318 learned in the 21 years that have 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:07.199 expired between that day and this. 00:03:04.318 --> 00:03:08.878 I have come up with two answers. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.799 On this wonderful day when we are 00:03:08.878 --> 00:03:13.919 gathered together to celebrate your 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.680 academic success, I have decided to talk 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:19.679 to you about the benefits of failure. 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:22.640 And as you stand on the threshold of 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:25.120 what is sometimes called real life, I 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:27.279 want to extol the crucial importance of 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:29.519 imagination. 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:33.199 These may seem quickotic or paradoxical 00:03:29.519 --> 00:03:35.519 choices, but bear with me. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:37.759 Looking back at the 21-year-old that I 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:39.439 was at graduation is a slightly 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:42.399 uncomfortable experience for the 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:45.598 42year-old that she has become. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:47.760 Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an 00:03:45.598 --> 00:03:50.560 uneasy balance between the ambition I 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:53.679 had for myself and what those closest of 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.519 to me expected of me. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:59.200 I was convinced that the only thing I 00:03:55.519 --> 00:04:01.759 wanted to do ever was write novels. 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.438 However, my parents, both of whom came 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:05.679 from impoverished backgrounds and 00:04:03.438 --> 00:04:07.359 neither of whom had been to college, 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:09.680 took the view that my overactive 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:12.319 imagination was an amusing personal 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:14.560 quirk that would never pay a mortgage or 00:04:12.318 --> 00:04:16.478 secure a pension. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:20.798 I know the irony strikes with the force 00:04:16.478 --> 00:04:22.478 of a cartoon anvil now, but 00:04:20.798 --> 00:04:25.120 so they hoped that I would take a 00:04:22.478 --> 00:04:27.680 vocational degree. I wanted to study 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:29.918 English literature. A compromise was 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:32.800 reached that in retrospect satisfied 00:04:29.918 --> 00:04:34.319 nobody and I went up to study modern 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:36.400 languages. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:38.319 Hardly had my parents' car round of the 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:40.719 corner at the end of the road. Then I 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:43.199 ditched German and scuttled off down the 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:45.440 classics corridor. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.840 I cannot remember telling my parents 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.360 that I was studying classics. They might 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.079 well have found out for the first time 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.960 on graduation day. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:57.439 Of all the subjects on this planet, I 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:59.039 think they would have been hardput to 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.120 name one less useful than Greek 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:05.360 mythology when it came to securing the 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:07.439 keys to an executive bathroom. 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:09.840 Now, I would like to make it clear in 00:05:07.439 --> 00:05:12.000 parenthesis that I do not blame my 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:14.239 parents for their point of view. There 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:15.839 is an expiry date on blaming your 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.840 parents for steering you in the wrong 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.839 direction. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:32.478 The moment you are old enough to take 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:35.359 the wheel, responsibility lies with you. 00:05:32.478 --> 00:05:37.199 What is more, I cannot criticize my 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.080 parents for hoping that I would never 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:43.280 experience poverty. They had been poor 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:45.918 themselves and I have since been poor. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:48.799 And I quite agree with them that it is 00:05:45.918 --> 00:05:52.560 not an enabling experience. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.960 Poverty entails fear and stress and 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.879 sometimes depression. It means a 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.399 thousand petty humiliations and 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:00.240 hardships. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:02.239 Climbing out of poverty by your own 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:05.280 efforts, that is something on which to 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:09.038 pride yourself. But poverty itself is 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:11.279 romanticized only by fools. 00:06:09.038 --> 00:06:15.439 What I feared most for myself at your 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:18.318 age was not poverty, but failure. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:20.959 At your age, in spite of a distinct lack 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.879 of motivation at university, where I had 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:25.198 spent far too long in the coffee bar 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:28.000 writing stories and far too little time 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:29.520 at lectures, I had a knack for passing 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:32.399 examinations. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:34.879 And that for years had been the measure 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:36.959 of success in my life and that of my 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:39.439 peers. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:41.758 Now I am not dull enough to suppose that 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:44.079 because you are young, gifted and well 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.919 educated, you have never known 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.879 heartbreak, 00:06:45.918 --> 00:06:52.079 hardship or heartache, talent and 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:54.800 intelligence never yet inoculated anyone 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:56.560 against the caprice of the fates and I 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.800 do not for a moment suppose that 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:02.879 everyone here has enjoyed an existence 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:05.038 of unruffled privilege and contentment. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:07.680 However, the fact that you are 00:07:05.038 --> 00:07:09.519 graduating from Harvard suggests that 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:12.519 you are not very well acquainted with 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.519 failure. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:18.240 You might be driven by a fear of failure 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:21.280 quite as much as a desire for success. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:23.519 Indeed, your conception of failure might 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:27.279 not be too far removed from the average 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:30.478 person's idea of success. So, high have 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:33.119 you already flown. 00:07:30.478 --> 00:07:36.000 Ultimately, we all have to decide for 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:38.079 ourselves what constitutes failure. But 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:41.519 the world is quite eager to give you a 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.839 set of criteria if you let it. So I 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:46.719 think it fair to say that by any 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:50.399 conventional measure, a mere seven years 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.639 after my graduation day, I had failed on 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:54.560 an epic scale. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:58.400 An exceptionally short-lived marriage 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:01.038 had imploded and I was jobless, a lone 00:07:58.399 --> 00:08:03.198 parent and as poor as it is possible to 00:08:01.038 --> 00:08:05.120 be in modern Britain without being 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.680 homeless. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:10.478 The fears that my parents had had for me 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:13.199 and that I had had for myself had both 00:08:10.478 --> 00:08:15.839 come to pass. And by every usual 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:17.840 standard, I was the biggest failure I 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:19.359 knew. 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:21.918 Now, I'm not going to stand here and 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.720 tell you that failure is fun. 00:08:21.918 --> 00:08:26.560 That period of my life was a dark one 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.800 and I had no idea that there was going 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:31.280 to be what the press has si since 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:32.879 represented as a kind of fairy tale 00:08:31.279 --> 00:08:35.759 resolution. 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:38.399 I had no idea then how far the tunnel 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:40.399 extended. And for a long time any light 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.639 at the end of it was a hope rather than 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.839 a reality. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:47.679 So why do I talk about the benefits of 00:08:45.839 --> 00:08:50.240 failure? 00:08:47.679 --> 00:08:53.039 simply because failure meant a stripping 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:55.278 away of the inessential. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:58.159 I stopped pretending to myself that I 00:08:55.278 --> 00:09:00.639 was anything other than what I was and 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:02.639 began to direct all my energy into 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:05.600 finishing the only work that mattered to 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:07.360 me. Had I really succeeded at anything 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:09.519 else, I might never have found the 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:12.959 determination to succeed in the one 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:16.159 arena where I believed I truly belonged. 00:09:12.958 --> 00:09:19.278 I was set free because my greatest fear 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:21.759 had been realized and I was still alive 00:09:19.278 --> 00:09:24.399 and I still had a daughter whom I adored 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:28.399 and I had an old typewriter and a big 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:32.480 idea and so rock botton became the solid 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:35.600 foundation on which I rebuilt my life. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:39.200 You might never fail on the scale I did 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:42.320 but some failure in life is inevitable. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:44.720 It is impossible to live without failing 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:46.879 at something unless you live so 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:50.160 cautiously that you might as well not 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:52.958 have lived at all in which case you fail 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:54.958 by default. 00:09:52.958 --> 00:09:56.239 Failure gave me an inner security that I 00:09:54.958 --> 00:09:57.919 had never attained by passing 00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.600 examinations. 00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:02.240 Failure taught me things about myself 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:04.720 that I could have learned no other way. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:06.320 I discovered that I had a strong will 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:10.000 and more discipline than I had 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:12.480 suspected. I also found out that I had 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.799 friends whose value was truly above the 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:16.320 price of rubies. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.639 The knowledge that you have emerged 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:21.680 wiser and stronger from setbacks means 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:23.838 that you are ever after secure in your 00:10:21.679 --> 00:10:26.399 ability to survive. 00:10:23.839 --> 00:10:28.640 You will never truly know yourself or 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.600 the strength of your relationships until 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:35.120 both have been tested by adversity. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:38.000 Such knowledge is a true gift for all 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:40.480 that it is painfully won and it has been 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.159 worth more than any qualification I ever 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:45.039 earned. 00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:47.278 So given a time turner, I would tell my 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:49.599 21-year-old self that personal happiness 00:10:47.278 --> 00:10:52.879 lies in knowing that life is not a 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:56.079 checklist of acquisition or achievement. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:58.159 Your qualifications, your CV, are not 00:10:56.078 --> 00:11:00.479 your life. Though you will meet many 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:03.600 people of my age and older who confuse 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:06.240 the two. Life is difficult and 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:09.278 complicated and beyond anyone's total 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:11.200 control. And the humility to know that 00:11:09.278 --> 00:11:14.200 will enable you to survive its 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.200 vicissitudes. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:17.439 Now you might think that I chose my 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:19.120 second theme, the importance of 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:21.279 imagination because of the part it 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:24.480 played in rebuilding my life, but that 00:11:21.278 --> 00:11:27.200 is not wholly so. Though I personally 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:30.240 will defend the value of bedtime stories 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:33.680 to my last gasp, I have leared to value 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:36.399 imagination in a much broader sense. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:39.039 Imagination is not only the uniquely 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:42.639 human capacity to envision that which is 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:44.958 not and therefore the f of all invention 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.439 and innovation. 00:11:44.958 --> 00:11:50.159 In its arguably most transformative and 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:53.120 revelatory capacity, it is the power 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:56.958 that enables us to empathize with humans 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:58.480 whose experiences we have never shared. 00:11:56.958 --> 00:12:00.559 One of the greatest formative 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:02.639 experiences of my life preceded Harry 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:05.359 Potter, though it informed much of what 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:07.600 I subsequently wrote in those books. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:10.639 This revelation came in the form of one 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:12.320 of my earliest day jobs. Though I was 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:15.278 sloping off to write stories during my 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:18.480 lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 00:12:15.278 --> 00:12:20.639 20ies by working at the African research 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:23.759 department of Amnesty International's 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:26.000 headquarters in London. 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:28.799 There in my little office, I read 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.759 hastily scribbled letters smuggled out 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:34.000 of totalitarian regimes by men and women 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.600 who were risking imprisonment to inform 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:38.799 the outside world of what was happening 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:41.200 to them. I saw photographs of those who 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:43.199 had disappeared without trace, sent to 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:46.320 amnesty by their desperate families and 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:48.560 friends. I read the testimony of torture 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:51.839 victims and saw pictures of their 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:54.638 injuries. I opened handwritten 00:12:51.839 --> 00:12:59.760 eyewitness accounts of summary trials 00:12:54.639 --> 00:13:02.000 and executions of kidnappings and rapes. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:04.399 Many of my co-workers were ex-political 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.278 prisoners, people who had been displaced 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:09.278 from their homes or fled into exile 00:13:07.278 --> 00:13:11.519 because they had the tmerity to speak 00:13:09.278 --> 00:13:13.600 against their governments. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:15.039 Visitors to our offices included those 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:17.200 who have who had come to give 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.879 information or to try and find out what 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:21.120 had happened to those who they had left 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:23.919 behind. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:26.720 I shall never forget the African torture 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:29.679 victim, a young man no older than I was 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.519 at the time, who had become mentally ill 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.199 after all he had endured in his 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.679 homeland. 00:13:33.200 --> 00:13:38.639 He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:42.000 into a video camera about the brutality 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:44.720 inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:46.159 than I was and seemed as fragile as a 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:48.079 child. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:49.439 I was given the job of escorting him 00:13:48.078 --> 00:13:52.559 back to the underground station 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:55.519 afterwards. And this man, whose life had 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.319 been shattered by cruelty, took my hand 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:01.039 with exquisite courtesy and wished me 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:03.600 future happiness. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.838 And as long as I live, I shall remember 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:08.240 walking along an empty corridor and 00:14:05.839 --> 00:14:11.519 suddenly hearing from behind a closed 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:14.240 door a scream of pain and horror such as 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:17.198 I have never heard since. The door 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:19.839 opened and the researcher poked out her 00:14:17.198 --> 00:14:22.000 out her head and told me to run and make 00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:24.079 a hot drink for the young man sitting 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:26.720 with her. 00:14:24.078 --> 00:14:28.479 She had just had to give him the news 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:30.480 that in retaliation for his 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:34.320 outspokenenness against his country's 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:37.320 regime, his mother had been seized and 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:37.320 executed. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:43.040 Every day of my working week in my early 00:14:40.078 --> 00:14:45.359 20s, I was reminded how incredibly 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.958 fortunate I was to live in a country 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.360 with a democratically elected 00:14:46.958 --> 00:14:51.838 government, where legal representation 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:53.680 and a public trial were the rights of 00:14:51.839 --> 00:14:56.800 everyone. 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:59.359 Every day I saw more evidence about the 00:14:56.799 --> 00:15:03.838 evils humankind would inflict on their 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:06.079 fellow humans to gain or maintain power. 00:15:03.839 --> 00:15:08.639 I began to have nightmares, literal 00:15:06.078 --> 00:15:12.958 nightmares about some of the things I 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:16.720 saw, heard, and read. 00:15:12.958 --> 00:15:19.759 And yet, I also learned more about human 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:22.480 goodness at Amnesty International than I 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:24.799 had ever known before. 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.320 Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.958 who have never been tortured or 00:15:26.320 --> 00:15:32.240 imprisoned for their beliefs to act on 00:15:28.958 --> 00:15:34.638 behalf of those who have. The power of 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:39.039 human empathy leading to collective 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:41.360 action saves lives and frees prisoners. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:44.399 Ordinary people whose personal 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:47.120 well-being and security are assured join 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:50.399 together in huge numbers to save people 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:53.198 they do not know and will never meet. My 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:55.278 small participation in that process was 00:15:53.198 --> 00:15:59.039 one of the most humbling and inspiring 00:15:55.278 --> 00:16:00.799 experiences of my life. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:03.679 Unlike any other creature on this 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.799 planet, human beings can learn and 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:08.958 understand without having experienced. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:11.679 They can think themselves into other 00:16:08.958 --> 00:16:13.758 people's places. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:15.838 Of course, this is a power like my brand 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:18.560 of fictional magic that is morally 00:16:15.839 --> 00:16:22.240 neutral. One might use such an ability 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:25.758 to manipulate or control just as much as 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:27.919 to understand or sympathize. 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:30.879 And many prefer not to exercise their 00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:32.639 imaginations at all. They choose to 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.958 remain comfortably within the bounds of 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.560 their own experience, never troubling to 00:16:34.958 --> 00:16:39.359 wonder how it would feel to have been 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:41.679 born other than they are. They can 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:44.879 refuse to hear screams or peer inside 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:46.559 cages. They can close their minds and 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:49.439 hearts to any suffering that does not 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:52.239 touch them personally. They can refuse 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.320 to know. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:56.799 I might be tempted to envy people who 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.399 can live that way, except that I do not 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:01.599 think they have any fewer nightmares 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:03.839 than I do. Choosing to live in narrow 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:06.480 spaces leads to a form of mental 00:17:03.839 --> 00:17:08.078 agrophobia, and that brings its own 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.959 terrors. 00:17:08.078 --> 00:17:13.438 I think the willfully unimaginative see 00:17:10.959 --> 00:17:15.759 more monsters. They are often more 00:17:13.439 --> 00:17:18.558 afraid. 00:17:15.759 --> 00:17:21.599 What is more, those who choose not to 00:17:18.558 --> 00:17:23.119 empathize enable real monsters. For 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:25.678 without ever committing an act of 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:29.678 outright evil ourselves, we collude with 00:17:25.679 --> 00:17:31.440 it through our own apathy. 00:17:29.679 --> 00:17:33.360 One of the many things I learned at the 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:35.919 end of that classics corridor down which 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:38.079 I ventured at the age of 18 in search of 00:17:35.919 --> 00:17:39.919 something I could not then define was 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:41.759 this written by the Greek author 00:17:39.919 --> 00:17:44.720 Plutarch. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:47.279 what we achieve inwardly will change 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:49.440 outer reality. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:51.759 That is an astonishing statement and yet 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:54.720 proven a thousand times every day of our 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:56.879 lives. It expresses in part our 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:58.960 inescapable connection with the outside 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.480 world. The fact that we touch other 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:05.038 people's lives simply by existing. 00:18:02.480 --> 00:18:08.720 But how much more are you, Harvard 00:18:05.038 --> 00:18:10.720 graduates of 2008, likely to touch other 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:13.279 people's lives? 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:15.839 Your intelligence, your capacity for 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:19.038 hard work, the education you have earned 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:22.639 and received give you unique unique 00:18:19.038 --> 00:18:26.000 status and unique responsibilities. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:28.320 Even your nationality sets you apart. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:31.200 The great majority of you belong to the 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:34.079 world's only remaining superpower. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:36.480 The way you vote, the way you live, the 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:38.960 way you protest, the pressure you bring 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:41.679 to bear on your government has an impact 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:45.120 way beyond your borders. That is your 00:18:41.679 --> 00:18:47.360 privilege and your burden. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:49.199 If you choose to use your status and 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.519 influence to raise your voice on behalf 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:54.080 of those who have no voice. If you 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:56.879 choose to identify not only with the 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:59.119 powerful but with the powerless. If you 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:00.960 retain the ability to imagine yourself 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:03.439 into the lives of those who do not have 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:05.440 your advantages, then it will not only 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:08.000 be your proud families who celebrate 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.480 your existence, but thousands and 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:13.919 millions of people whose reality you 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:16.640 have helped change. We do not need magic 00:19:13.919 --> 00:19:19.280 to transform our world. We carry all the 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:23.440 power we need inside ourselves already. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:26.319 We have the power to imagine better. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:28.640 I am nearly finished. I have one last 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:31.200 hope for you, which is something that I 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.880 already had at 21. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.960 The friends with whom I sat on 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:38.160 graduation day have been my friends for 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.759 life. They are my children's godparents. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:42.640 The people to whom I've been able to 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.558 turn in times of real trouble. People 00:19:42.640 --> 00:19:46.000 who have been kind enough not to sue me 00:19:44.558 --> 00:19:49.000 when I took their names for Death 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.000 Eaters. 00:19:55.759 --> 00:20:00.798 At our graduation, we were bound by 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:02.400 enormous affection, by our shared 00:20:00.798 --> 00:20:05.279 experience of a time that could never 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.960 come again. And of course, by the 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:09.119 knowledge that we held certain 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:11.600 photographic evidence that would be 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:15.359 exceptionally valuable 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:16.879 if any of us ran for prime minister. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:20.399 [Applause] 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:22.400 So today, I wish you nothing better than 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:25.679 similar friendships. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:28.240 And tomorrow I hope that even if you 00:20:25.679 --> 00:20:30.720 remember not a single word of mine, you 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:33.519 remember those of Senica, another of 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:36.319 those old Romans I met when I fled down 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:39.200 the classics corridor in retreat from 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.879 from career ladders in search of ancient 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:45.038 wisdom. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:48.080 As is a tale, so is life. Not how long 00:20:45.038 --> 00:20:51.839 it is, but how good it is is what 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:55.480 matters. I wish you all very good lives. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.480 Thank you very much.