The Harry Potter series (系列丛书) by J.K. Rowling is considered to be one of the most beloved stories of all time. There are plenty of life lessons that can be learned from the series. Here are four of my favorites:

Friends will always try their best to help you.

Whenever Harry finds himself in trouble, Ron and Hermione face it with him together. Harry, Ron and Hermione complete each other with their own talents. With the support of friends, anything is possible.

It is great to be smart, but sometimes, it isn’t the most important thing.

There are more important things than smartness — friendship and courage. As Hermione points out, sometimes knowing the right answer is not enough. Harry would never have been successful without the help of Hermione, but his courage makes him able to fight for what he believes in.

You control your future through the choices that you make.

Sometimes it may seem everything is out of your hands. However, with the right mindset (心态), you can control your life. For teenagers, everything seems to be controlled by pressure from parents, teachers and friends. But your thoughts and actions can make everything change.

Love is the most powerful weapon (武器) you can have.

Love saves Harry many times throughout the stories. Harry understands that he is more powerful than Voldemort, not because he is a better wizard (男巫) but because Voldemort never knows love. Harry’s love for his friends allows him to put them before himself. It is just love that makes Harry Potter go through hard times.

It’s hard not to fall in love with the characters, the stories and the writing of the Harry Potter series. Not only are they interesting, they also teach us many valuable life lessons.

Rebecca doesn’t like art classes. She just can’t make an orange look like an orange, or a tree look like a tree.

But her art teacher Mrs. Miller is kind. She says to Rebecca, “Don’t worry. We can’t all draw well but I know that you can make good pictures.”

“What do you mean?” asks Rebecca.

The teacher says, “You are very good at taking photos with your camera (照相机). And that is not easy. It needs much talent (天赋). When you take photos, you have to think about how to do it so it will look good. And you have to be very careful (细致的).”

Now Rebecca isn’t sad. She knows there are many kinds of art in the world and many kinds of artists.

One day a poor farmer was taking a bag of rice to town. Suddenly the bag fell off his horse on the road. He didn’t know what to do about it because it was too heavy for him to lift by himself. He only hoped that somebody would soon pass by and help him.

Just at this moment a man riding a horse came up to him. But the farmer was very disappointed(失望) when he saw who he was. It was the great man living nearby. The farmer had hoped to ask another farmer or a poor man like him.

But to his surprise, the great man got off his horse as soon as he came near. He said to the farmer, “I see you need help, friend. How good it is that I’m here just at the right time.” Then he took one end of the bag, the farmer took the other. They together lifted and put it on the horse.

“Sir.” asked the farmer, “how can I pay you?”

“It’s quite easy,” the great man answered with a smile, “wherever you see anyone else in trouble, do the same for him.”