B2170 words1:04Speech American AccentPublished Apr 29, 2026 · Updated Apr 29, 2026

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Rowling worked at the research headquarters of Amnesty International, where she investigated stories of torture.

She read smuggled letters and heard recordings of mothers who had lost their children to political violence.

At Amnesty International, she saw human evil and cruelty, but she also saw people helping a total stranger.

She witnessed what kind people are willing to do to help those they have never even met.

She argued that imagination is not only the power of invention but also the ability to empathize with others.

This uniquely human gift allows us to understand experiences that we have never personally shared.

Some people prefer to ignore human suffering and refuse to acknowledge the pain of those around them.

Rowling described this willful blindness as a moral failure that limits a person’s connection to the world.

If you use your influence on behalf of the voiceless, you will help transform many lives.

#10

"We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already."

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J.K. Rowling at Harvard: The Importance of Imagination