Looking for the best J.K. Rowling quotes? Then look no further!
Today, J.K. Rowling is one of the most famous and inspirational authors in the world with the Harry Potter series selling over 500 million copies worldwide.
What’s most inspiring about Rowling though is not the success she’s experienced but the fact that she overcame tremendous personal hardships, poverty and depression on her journey to success.
J.K. Rowling began writing the first Harry Potter book when her life was at rock bottom. It was 5 long years in the making from the time she got the idea on a train from Manchester to King’s Cross.
During that time she experienced the death of her mother, something that Rowling reflects upon as the most traumatising moment of her life. After her short lived marriage had collapsed J.K. Rowling found herself out of work, living in poverty and battling depression, trying to raise her daughter on state benefits. She even contemplated suicide.
But she persevered and continued to believe in her dreams. She was determined to be a successful author and having experienced her greatest fear allowed her to be free to focus all of her attention on writing.
After numerous rejections from publishers she finally triumphed. Published by Bloomsbury in June 1997, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone exploded almost instantly into a global sensation.
Seven squeals sequels later, the Harry Potter series has broken records, selling over 500 million copies worldwide, creating 8 blockbuster films in the process and inspiring the imaginations of young readers everywhere.
Check Out: 64 Most Inspirational Harry Potter Quotes
In the space of 5 years J.K. Rowling went from living in poverty to achieving multi-millionaire status. She became the first author to make it on Forbes Billionaire List, however dropped off in 2012 due to charitable donations.
The famous J.K. Rowling quotes on life, failure and magic below will inspire you to face whatever adversity life throws at you and persevere to achieve your dreams.
49 Inspirational J.K. Rowling Quotes
1. “We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling (One of my favourite J.K. Rowling quotes, what’s yours?)
2. “If someone asked for my recipe for happiness, step one would be finding out what you love doing most in the world and step two would be finding someone to pay you to do it.” – J.K. Rowling
3. “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 have failed by default.” – J.K. Rowling (One of my favourite J.K. Rowling quotes on failure.)
4. “You sort of start thinking anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J.K. Rowling
5. “Why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.” – J.K. Rowling
6. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.” – J.K. Rowling
7. “You’ve got to work. It’s about structure. It’s about discipline. It’s all these deadly things that your schoolteacher told you you needed… You need it.” – J.K. Rowling
8. “Sometimes, you have to stop trying to force it, walk away and let your subconscious show you the way. Fill up on life for a while.” – J.K. Rowling
9. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation upon which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling
The famous J.K. Rowling rock bottom quote.
10. “Achievable goals are the first step to self-improvement.” – J.K. Rowling
11. “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” – J.K. Rowling
12. “Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” – J.K. Rowling
13. “When people are very damaged, they can often meet the world with a kind of defiance.” – J.K. Rowling
14. “The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must therefore be treated with great caution.” – J.K. Rowling
15. “If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” – J.K. Rowling
16. “I believe in free will. Of those that, like us, are in a privileged situation at least. For you, for me: people who are living in western society, people who are not repressed, who are free. We can choose. The things go largely like you want them to go. You control your own life. Your own will is extremely powerful.” – J.K. Rowling
17. “If you love something – and there are things that I love – you do want more and more and more of it, but that’s not the way to produce good work.” – J.K. Rowling
18. “I think you have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently.” – J.K. Rowling
19. “The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.” – J.K. Rowling
20. “You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.” – J.K. Rowling
21. “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling
22. “Whatever money you might have, self-worth really lies in finding out what you do best.” – J.K. Rowling
23. “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” – J.K. Rowling
24. “I don’t think there’s any harm at all in allowing a kid to fantasize. In fact, I think to stop people from fantasizing is a very destructive thing indeed.” – J.K. Rowling
25. “If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; and if you choose to identify not only with the powerful but with the powerless; and 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 transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling
26. “We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same and worth saving.” – J.K. Rowling
27. “We have to choose between what is right, and what is easy.” – J.K. Rowling
28. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” – J.K. Rowling
29. “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” – J.K. Rowling
30. “What’s most important in a friendship? Tolerance and loyalty.” – J.K. Rowling
31. “The truth is always easier than a lie or an evasion – easier to deal with and easier to live with.” – J.K. Rowling
32. “Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.” – J.K. Rowling
33. “The world is full of wonderful things you haven’t seen yet. Don’t ever give up on the chance of seeing them.” – J.K. Rowling
34. “The discipline involved in finishing a piece of creative work is something on which you can truly pride yourself.” – J.K. Rowling
35. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – J.K. Rowling
36. “There is an expiration 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.” – J.K. Rowling
37. “Luck can only get you so far.” – J.K. Rowling
38. “Curiosity is not a sin… But we should exercise caution with our curiosity.” – J.K. Rowling
39. “I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.” – J.K. Rowling
40. “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.” – J.K. Rowling
41. “You have to resign yourself to wasting lots of trees before you write anything really good. That’s just how it is. It’s like learning an instrument. You’ve got to be prepared for hitting wrong notes occasionally, or quite a lot. That’s just part of the learning process. And read a lot. Reading a lot really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.” – J.K. Rowling
42. “Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared. Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” – J.K. Rowling
43. “Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success. I’ve met people who don’t want to try for fear of failing.” – J.K. Rowling
44. “Even if it isn’t the piece of work that finds an audience, it will teach you things you could have learned no other way.” – J.K. Rowling
45. “Failure is not fun. It can be awful. But living so cautiously that you never fail is worse.” – J.K. Rowling
46. “Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.” – J.K. Rowling
47. “Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.” – J.K. Rowling
48. “It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.” – J. K. Rowling
49. “If Harry Potter taught us anything, it’s that no one should live in a closet.” – J.K. Rowling
Did you like these inspirational quotes?
What are your favourite J.K. Rowling quotes? Let me know in the comments and please share this post to help and inspire others.
