Harper Lee

I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.

The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.

Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself...It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.

The book to read is not the one that thinks for you but the one which makes you think.

When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge.

What does a bigot do when he meets someone who challenges his opinions? He doesn’t give. He stays rigid. Doesn’t even try to listen, just lashes out.

You rarely win, but sometimes you do.

If you did not want much, there was plenty.

Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere.

Before Jem looks at anyone else he looks at me, and I’ve tried to live so I can look squarely back at him.

There are some men in this world who are born to do our unpleasant jobs for us. Your father's one of them.

That boy is your company. And if he wants to eat up that tablecloth, you let him, you hear?

"Atticus, he was real nice."

"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

Autumn was her happiest season.

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.