By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
J. K. RowlingRead
Magic has universal appeal. I don't believe in magic in the way that I describe in my books, but I'd love it to be real.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a longing for the enchantment of magic, despite recognizing that it is fictional.
In this quote, J.K. Rowling reflects on the allure of magic and its capacity to captivate people's imaginations. She acknowledges that while she does not believe in magic as portrayed in her stories, she still wishes it were real, highlighting the universal appeal of magical elements in storytelling and their ability to inspire wonder and escapism.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about creativity and the power of imagination.
By all means continue destroying my possessions. I daresay I have too many.
Where are you heading, if you’ve got the choice?” James lifted an invisible sword. “‘Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!’ Like my dad.” Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him. “Got a problem with that?” “No,” said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. “If you’d rather be brawny than brainy —” “Where’re you hoping to go, seeing as you’re neither?” interjected Sirius.
Depression isn't just being a bit sad. It's feeling nothing. It's not wanting to be alive anymore.
I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.
Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?
The consequences of our actions are always so complicated, so diverse, that predicting the future is a very difficult business indeed.
I used to try and concentrate the poem so much that there wasn't a word that wasn't essential. This leads to becoming boring and constipated.
Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.
There's a certain grain of stupidity that the writer of fiction can hardly do without, and this is the quality of having to stare, of not getting the point at once. The longer you look at one object, the more of the world you see in it; and it's well to remember that the serious fiction writer always writes about the whole world.
We learn how to kiss, or to drink, talk to our buddies-all the things that you can't really teach in social studies or history-we all learn them at the movies.
The only important elements in any society are the artistic and the criminal, because they alone, by questioning the society’s values, can force it to change.
I was honoured when they asked me to appear at the president's birthday rally in Madison Square Garden. There was like a hush over the whole place when I came on to sing 'Happy Birthday,' like if I had been wearing a slip, I would have thought it was showing or something. I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, what if no sound comes out!'
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.