“Harry Potter” Quotes That Got Me Through the Last 19 Years
This month marks the 19th year since the original publication of Sorcerer’s Stone. For many Potter fans, that’s more than half of our lives. I know that my life has changed dramatically since the first book came out; I graduated high school, lost close friends and family members, dealt with terrible teachers, graduated college, got married, and watched my friends and family members grow alongside me.
Even during the craziest moments of my life, I’ve always been able to turn to the Potter series for comfort and wisdom. Whenever change came upon me relentlessly, I was able to apply the lessons Harry and his friends learned to my own life, making transitions go smoothly and giving me the courage to carry on.
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live” (Sorcerer’s Stone 157).
We all fail sometimes. Academically, professionally, among friends – eventually all of us make a mistake and wonder what things would have been like if they hadn’t. As disappointing as failure is, daydreaming about what could have been is as fruitless as staring at the Mirror of Erised. We can take some time to mourn, but pretty soon we have to pick ourselves up and figure out how to move past our failures.
If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals” (Goblet of Fire 525).
Many of us have dealt with unkind teachers or other authority figures who used their power to take advantage of the people they were supposed to be taking care of. Barty Crouch, Sr. sent his own son to prison; although Hermione didn’t know this, she was able to see his true colors just by the way he treated Winky. Authority figures have to treat their charges with respect, and reminding ourselves of this can help keep our self-esteem up when we’re faced with people who choose to treat us disrespectfully.
It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends” (Sorcerer’s Stone 306).
As we grow older, we learn that some of our friendships weren’t what we thought they were. Maybe friends start acting differently than they used to, or we see their actions in a new light. It takes a great deal of courage to ask our friends to change their behavior or admit to them you don’t think you’re compatible as friends anymore, but if Neville can do it, so can we.
You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?” (Prisoner of Azkaban 427)
Dealing with the loss of loved ones can be difficult in any capacity. Death takes everyone eventually, but we can lose people to other things like moving away and falling out as well. It’s important to remember how powerful the memories of our loved ones can be. It hurts when someone is gone, but keeping them close in our memory can help us deal with things when they get overwhelming.
What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does” (Goblet of Fire 719).
No matter how we try to stop it, change will come. Even good changes can be frightening. Accepting the imminent changes in our lives will help us prepare to deal with them and smooth out those often rocky life transitions. The Potter series has already been here for 19 years, and it will be here to help us deal with change for the rest of our lives.
