J.K. Rowling
London, United KingdomBritish author JK Rowling, creator of the Harry Potter series of books, poses during the launch of new online website Pottermore in London June 23, 2011. Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

Joanne Rowling, better known by her pen name J.K. Rowling, turns 56 on Saturday. The iconic author shares her birthday with her popular creation, Harry Potter, who turns 41 on the same day.

Rowling conceived the idea of her fantasy novel "Harry Potter" while sitting on a delayed train in 1990. The first book was published in June 1997, and four years later, the film adaptation of the first book was released. Rowling has won several awards, including the Robert F Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award in 2019 and the PEN America Literary Service Award in 2016.

Here are some inspirational quotes by the author on her birthday, courtesy Brainy Quotes and Harry Potter books:

1. "The most important thing is to read as much as you can like I did. It will give you an understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary."

2. "If you're holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time."

3. “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” — [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone]

4. "Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't really a great time for me to have a House Elf in my bedroom." — Harry Potter [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

5. "Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the fates."

6. “It is a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.” –[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]

7. "Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared."

8. "I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."

9. "I think you're working and learning until you die."

10. "The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and must, therefore, be treated with great caution."

J.K. Rowling Fantastic Beasts 3

J.K. Rowling announced that she finished the third "Fantastic Beasts" screenplay. She is pictured at the "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" premiere in London on Nov. 13, 2018. Photo: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images