Some Rowling quotes

[Asked by an interviewer about the next "Harry Potter" book]: Well, it will be a papery object with pages inside.

[Discussing her daughter, Jessica]: Kids at her school will sidle up to me and say, "Does Jessica know what happens in book 4? Does Jessica know the title of book 4?" And I keep saying, "No! There is no point kidnapping her, taking her around back of the bike shed, and torturing her for information."

Bigotry is probably the thing I detest most.

I had an American journalist say to me, "Is it true you wrote the whole of the first novel on napkins?" I was tempted to say, "On teabags, I used to save them."

I gave my hero a talent I'd love to have. Who wouldn't want to fly?

The spells are made up. I have met people who assure me, very seriously, that they are trying to do them, and I can assure them, just as seriously, that they don't work.

[When asked what the title would be for book six]: It will be called 'Harry Potter and...' something. Catchy, don't you think? And I think I'll follow the same model for seven.

People ask me if there are going to be stories of Harry Potter as an adult. Frankly, if I wanted to, I could keep writing stories until Harry is a senior citizen, but I don't know how many people would actually want to read about a 65 year old Harry still at Hogwarts playing bingo with Ron and Hermione.

[Family Circle, 4-1-06]: Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.

[About being held up at an airport for refusing to be parted from the manuscript of her seventh "Harry Potter" book]: The heightened security restrictions on the airlines made the journey back from New York interesting, as I refused to be parted from the manuscript of book seven. A large part of it is handwritten and there was no copy of anything I had done while in the U.S. They let me take it on thankfully, bound up in elastic bands. I don't know what I would have done if they hadn't -- sailed home probably.

I would like to be remembered as someone who did the best she could with the talent she had.

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. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so Rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you've lived so cautiously, that you might as well not have lived at all.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0746830/bio#trivia

 

Exactly!

Nice thread, will add more quotes as and when I can. I see her documentary, her Harvard speech...well, all her interviews over and over again, it's just great hearing her talk and listening to her, she's so wise and inspirational... Esp. love her thoughts on the nature of love, importance of family, courage/fear, bigotry and failure. Edited by Ninotchka - 12 years ago

This is lovely. This woman has real wisdom and that is reflected through her character Albus Dumbledore. 

Oh Dumbly-dorrr



Oh my Rowling!!! I loved the one about the teabags and the one about her daughter being kidnapped. And ofcourse the one about failure because its so true: worst fears being realized is scary...no wonder she thought of a boggart!

OMG! This just cracked me up.🤣 Come to think of it though, I wouldn't mind.😉

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath

OMG! This just cracked me up.🤣 Come to think of it though, I wouldn't mind.😉

 

"People ask me if there are going to be stories of Harry Potter as an adult. Frankly, if I wanted to, I could keep writing stories until Harry is a senior citizen, but I don't know how many people would actually want to read about a 65 year old Harry still at Hogwarts playing bingo with Ron and Hermione."

I wouldn't mind either. 🤣
🤣

Some of the things she said when she recently came on Oprah:

Dementors came from her depression. "Clinical depression is a terrible place to be. I think I had tendencies to depression quite young.  It became really acute when I was 25-28; it was a dark time.  It is that absence of feeling, that absence of hope.  You don't know you can feel better.  It is so difficult to describe to someone who hasn't been there, because it isn't sadness.  Sadness is not a bad thing, to cry to feel.  And it was because of my daughter that I went and got help."
She articulates it very well, it's not sadness, it's numbness.

Rock bottom became her foundation, how to use failure. "It doesn't get spoken about enough.  I do not know anyone... who are terrified, who are in a straight jacked of their own making, because theyy are terrified of failing, and they won't try for fear of failing. "

"I'm not pushing any belief system here, although there is a lot of Christian imagery in the books, that's undeniable. And certanily in Hallows...that's an illusion to a belief system in which I was raised.  But to answer the question about being critized in that way [by religious groups]... If they're talking about the dark and scary stuff, I think it is perfectly legitiment for a parent to say that's a little old for my child, or we're going to discuss that together, read that together... that's great.  In fact, that's perfect!  On the 'You must not discuss witchcraft, you must not have witches or magic in the book,' I find that nonsensical."

And now my fav quote from her Oprah appearance:

"I am very frustrated by a fear of imagination, I don't think that's healthy." Word, Jo, WORD. 😉

I love her wisdom too...and love how she can be philosophical even about the smallest things in life...she's just a very deep person. I can see where her wisdom comes from...she's a Snake (chinese astrology).

Originally posted by: Ninotchka

Nice thread, will add more quotes as and when I can. I see her documentary, her Harvard speech...well, all her interviews over and over again, it's just great hearing her talk and listening to her, she's so wise and inspirational... Esp. love her thoughts on the nature of love, importance of family, courage/fear, bigotry and failure.

Originally posted by: PhoeniXof_Hades

 

So far, I've seen "A year in her life", "Biography from A&E" her interview at Oprah's show, and her Harvard speech. Anything else you would recommend?

Those are actually her best ones. There are a few more that I like - Her interview with Steve Kloves, another one with her and Stephen Fry, then there's a few appearances of hers on the Blue Peter Show, Today show, Jonathan Ross show and on Richard and Judy. I would suggest all of these, cuz most of the time she ends up saying stuff that catches my interest. They're all on YT I think...
Also, There are a couple of interviews she did with the Leaky Cauldron which tend to be very very informative...but you'll have search a bit for that. She did a wonderful two part podcast with them... I remember going berserk while hearing those...😆
This is another great site for finding everything she's ever said from everywhere :-
http://www.accio-quote.org/characters.html

On an aside, she doesn't speak a lot while receiving this award along side David Heyman, but regardless, I find her reaction to the award really sweet and genuine -

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqyIqkwJXIc&feature=fvst[/YOUTUBE]

Edited by Ninotchka - 12 years ago