To Kill a Mockingbird Quotes

“What good are wings without the courage to fly”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ´em, but remember it´s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Atticus Finch’s secret of living was so simple it was deeply complex: where most men had codes and tried to live up to them, Atticus lived his to the letter with no fuss, no fanfare, and no soul-searching. His private character was his public character.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Until it happened I did not realize that Jem was offended by my contradicting him on Hot Steams, and that he was patiently awaiting an opportunity to reward me. He did, by pushing the tyre down the sidewalk with all the force in his body.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“'I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch on to a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whisky - that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does . . . it ain't honest but it's mighty helpful to folks.'

'You mean all you drink in that sack's Coca Cola? Just plain Coca Cola?'

'Yes, ma'am. . .'”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“I wanted you to see what real courage is instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“I was becoming nervous. Atticus seemed to know what he was doing - but it seemed to me that he'd gone frog-sticking without a light. Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food. Do it, and you'll often get an answer you don't want, an answer that might wreck your case.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he breathed on them.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird