"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | june 1997

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | june 1997

"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

The Chamber of Secrets | july 1999

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | july 2000

"Poverty is a lot like childbirth—you know it is going to hurt before it happens, but you'll never know how much until you experience it."

Magic: A collection of short stories | june 2002

"Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | july 2007

"I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. . . What's to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that."

Interview with J.K. Rowling {via Huffington Post} | march 2008

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

Harvard commencement address | june 2008

"Achievable goals: the first step to self-improvement."

Harvard commencement address | june 2008

"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."

Harvard University commencement address | june 2008

"We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better."

Harvard University commencement address | june 2008

"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."

Harvard University commencement address | june 2008

"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."

Harvard University commencement address | june 2008

"The stories we love best do live in us forever."

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 | july 2011

"The mistake ninety-nine percent of humanity made . . . was being ashamed of what they were; lying about it, trying to be somebody else."

The Casual Vacancy | september 2012

"I am prouder of my years as a single mother than of any other part of my life."

from Gingerbread President J.K. Rowling | september 2013

"Writing is my incurable disease. It isn't a business to me, it's a condition."

twitter | january 2015

"Maybe...gay people just look like…people."

Twitter | march 2015

"The world is full of wonderful things you haven't seen yet. Don't ever give up on the chance of seeing them."

@JK_Rowling | may 2015

"Fate shoved you through an unexpected door and you lit the way for others."

tweet | july 2015