J.K. Rowling gave a Harvard Commencement speech in 2008, where she talked about overcoming adversity and the significant, if painful, benefits of failure. She then talks about where the power of imagination truly lies - not in the ability to escape or picture new things, but in the ability it gives us to empathise with people who are experiencing things we ourselves have not.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html
