Greetings to you!

I feel like I haven’t written about something I love in ages! So… I will change that right now.

Given you most likely saw in the picture above, you might have inferred that this was going to be an article about J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Well you would be right! (Your inference skills are magnificent!) Harry Potter is one of, if not THE, main book series in my life. I believe that this was the first series I started to read. Anyway, a little more background on me… I picked up my first Harry Potter book in second grade and couldn’t put it down. I remember that I waited for the longest time for my teacher to get the other ones that were out up until that point in time. I remember that one of my friends at the time was reading it too. When my teacher got the new books he had gotten to book number two first. I was SO mad! But, I solved this problem by reading the third book while he read the second. I just couldn’t wait to tear further into this awesome world I had discovered in the words of another person. I didn’t care if it was out of order. I just wanted – needed – to read.

I have read the books so many times. I could probably tell you almost everything about them just from memory. BUT… back to this article. I am writing about some of the most inspirational quotes I found in the books. The quotes I love most and the quotes that I think everyone can benefit from reading. Now I was going to do quotes from all seven books in this article but then I thought, “That would take something like eleven years to read through! That would not be fun! It would be like reading instructions for your microwave in Japanese! Or one of those horrible books that are 9,000 pages long that talk about the invention of the nail.” So I am going to break it down book by book. (Or two together depending on how many quotes there are. Let’s dive in!

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1):

“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.” (Rowling, 214).

This quote is a beautiful piece of advice because no matter who you are, you always think that if things had went this way, or if you had done this or that, that you would be better off. You dream that had you made one small change in your life, if that one thing had never happened, that things would be different. You dream that you would have more money, more happiness, more something. You dream about what ifs, and could have beens, but have those ever really gotten us anywhere? This quote blatantly screams nothing could can come from living in the past. No matter how much you wish you cannot change the past. Do not focus on the past, do not focus on dreams. Focus on life. Focus on what lies in front of you now. Do not live in the past, and do not fear the future. Live your life now. Make the best choices you can now. You can dream. Dreams are good! But do not let yourself get so caught up in your dreams that you forget to live. Time is precious and you cannot get it back no matter how much you try.

“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.” (Rowling, 297).

This quote speaks of the mystery that is death and the faultiness of human character when it comes to greed and self-perseverance. All rational people fear the unknown. The biggest unknown to mankind is death. There aren’t any step by step guides to go through death. No handbook to say what happens. And, not many people live to tell the tale of death so…yeah. There are all sorts of speculations of what happens after death. Theories. Life after death. Simple non-existence. But for people that have everything sorted out, have all of their affairs tied up and dressed with beautiful satin bows, all their goodbyes said and accept that they are about to die, they really can’t fear death. I mean I am sure that they still feel scared but making peace and accepting the fact you are going to die means that even though you are still scared you are strong enough, courageous enough, to live. This quote also talks about the two things people idolize. Life and Wealth. If I told you I could give you something that would keep you from ever dying, and would give you any amount of money whenever you asked for it would jump at the chance to own such an object? Life and money are two of the most deadly aspects in this world. Ironic right? Life is deadly. In fact life is eventually kills us all. Human greed, mankind’s lust for power, dreams of wealth and glory are some of the most deadly ideas in history. People were killed for owing other people money. Wars were fought over land and riches. We have a superpower for choosing precisely what is worst for us. Yours might not be life or money but, there is something that you would do almost anything for. Some of those things aren’t bad per say. Condensing this paragraph in one sentence “Be careful what you wish for, but be even more careful of the weaknesses that you face that hide behind the most innocent of things.”

“Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” (Rowling, 298).

This quote is pretty self-explanatory. If you confront your fears, if you name your fears, and accept that you are afraid of those things, then that fear can never really take control of you. For example if you are afraid of clowns but never tell anyone, and refuse to admit to yourself that you are afraid then the thing you are afraid of has more power over you.

“The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you’ll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie.” (Rowling, 298).

The truth can be a very good thing, but it can also be a most terrible thing. For instance, say you stole a cookie from the cookie jar but then you told on yourself, you probably wouldn’t get in as much trouble because you were honest. But say that a person was brutally murdered in a place really close to your house and you tell your kids exactly what happened. That probably wasn’t the best option. That would a terrible thing to tell a child. The truth is a very powerful thing and in certain circumstances should be used with caution, but that does not mean it is okay to lie. If Suzie tells Sami that Sally kissed Simon, Sami shouldn’t go around telling everybody that Suzie told her that Simon punched Sally. There are lines that cannot be crossed. Just as there are with everything else in this world. It can be a blessing and a curse but it is up to you which one it will be.

“Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn’t realize that love as powerful as your mother’s for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good.” (Rowling, 299).

Love. Love comes in many forms. That which comes from the bond between mother and child as seen in the passage above. The love that exists between friends. Even though you may have lost someone you loved it doesn’t mean that you lost the love that existed between you and the person you lost. It may be an actual loss through death or it could be a loss in the form of you and your friend parting ways. But that doesn’t mean that you weren’t changed because of it. No matter what happened you are still somehow a product of that love. Love is a very strong force in nature. It marks you in a way not anything else can. For each person this is a little different. Love is something that touches you inside. It is an overwhelming force of good and is something that last no matter what happens in life.

“There are all kinds of courage,” said Dumbledore, smiling. “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom.”

If you have ever stood up in front of a class and had to deliver a presentation you know how nerve wracking that can be. It takes courage to stand up in front of those people and represent what you are presenting. If you have ever seen someone being bullied and stood up for them it took courage to do that. If you have ever fought tooth and claw for something you believe in you used courage. But, there is a difference in between the courage it takes to do the things I just listed and to look your friend dead in the eye and say, “You’re wrong and I will not let you do something stupid because of it.” You can have courage to face stupid crazy stuff, you can have courage to stand up against someone for the benefit of another but that courage is something that exists in a more aggressive form. The courage to stand up to a friend is a more loving form, and a more powerful form. Stand up for what is right, and what is good. Even if it means that you have to hold your friends at bay. What is right is right what is wrong is wrong but only you have the power to control which one needs defending. Sometimes everyone in the world is walking forward and you have you reach up and fly.

That concludes this rather lengthy article. Feel free to email me anytime at [email protected] if you would like to further discuss any of these topics, if you have any questions, or if you just want to strike up a conversation. Thank you all so much for reading!

“No story lives unless someone wants to listen. The stories we love best do live in us forever. So whether you come back by page or by the big screen, Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” – J. K. Rowling

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. U.S.A. Scholastic Press, 1998. Print.