1. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
- J. K. Rowling
2. 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
3. As is a tale, so is life, not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
- J. K. Rowling
4. The wizards represent all that the true 'muggle' most fears: They are plainly outcasts and comfortable with being so. Nothing is more unnerving to the truly conventional than the unashamed misfit!
- J. K. Rowling
5. I bumped into a woman I hadn't seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? 'You've lost a lot of weight!' 'Well, the last time you saw me I'd just had a baby.' What I felt like saying was, 'I've produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you.' But no - my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!
- J. K. Rowling
6. 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.
- J. K. Rowling
7. I've never set out to teach anyone anything. It's been more of an expression of my views and feelings than sitting down and deciding 'What is today's message?' And I do think that, although I never, again, sat down consciously and thought about this, I do think judging, even for my own daughter, that children respond to that than to 'thought for the day.'
- J. K. Rowling
8. Part of what makes a language "alive" is its constant evolution. [...] I love editing "Harry" with Arthur Levine, my American editor - the differences between "British English" (of which there must be at least 200 versions) and "American English" (ditto!) are a source of constant interest and amusement to me.
- J. K. Rowling
9. I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I'm in good company there.
- J. K. Rowling
10. I've no idea where ideas come from and I hope I never find out, it would spoil the excitement for me if it turned out I just have a funny little wrinkle on the surface of my brain which makes me think about invisible train platforms.
- J. K. Rowling
11. Those who choose not to empathize enable real monsters, for without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves we collude with it through our apathy.
- J. K. Rowling
12. [On Fame] One of my regrets would be that I will never again have the pleasure of sneaking into a cafe, any cafe I like, sitting down and diving into my world and no one knowing what I am doing and no one bothering about me and being totally anonymous, that was fantastic.
- J. K. Rowling
13. Probably the very best thing my earnings have given me is absense of worry. I have not forgotten what it feels like to worry whether you'll have enough to pay the bills. Not to have to think about that any more is the biggest luxury in the world.
- J. K. Rowling
14. Bigotry is probably the thing I detest most. [...] I really like to explore the idea that difference is equal and good. Oppressed groups are not, generally speaking, people who stand firmly together - no, sadly, they kind of subdivide among themselves and fight like hell. That's human nature, so that's what you see here. This world of wizards and witches, they're already ostracized, and then within themselves, they've formed a loathsome pecking order.
- J. K. Rowling
15. I love freakish names and I have always been interested in folk lore and I think it was a logical thing for me to end up writing even though it came so suddenly.
- J. K. Rowling
16. As you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called "real life", I want to extoll the crucial importance of imagination.
- J. K. Rowling
17. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself and what those closest to me expected of me.
- J. K. Rowling
18. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction.
- J. K. Rowling
19. I imagined being a famous writer would be like being Jane Austen, being able to sit at home in the parsonage and your books would be very famous.
- J. K. Rowling
20. Writing for me is a kind of compulsion, so I don't think anyone could have made me do it, or prevented me from doing it.
- J. K. Rowling