Wonderful Quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird

In honor of the publishing, so unexpectedly, next week, of the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird, I share some of my favorite quotes from TKAM.



"'...if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again.'

'Atticus, are we going to win it?'

'No, honey.'"

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"Until I feared I would lose it, I had never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

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(At the black church)

"The warm bittersweet smell of clean Negro welcomed us as we entered the churchyard - Hearts of Love hairdressing mingled with asafetida, Hoyt's Cologne, Brown's Mule, peppermint, and lilac talcum."

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"'I wanted you to see what real courage is...It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.'"

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(At the black church, talking about the way the congregation sings hymns.)

"'Yeah, it's called linin'. They've done it that way as long as I can remember.'

Jem said it looked like they could save the collection money for a year and get some hymn-books.

Calpurnia laughed. 'Wouldn't do no good,' she said. 'They can't read.'"

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"'I couldn't go to church and worship God if I didn't try to help that man.'"

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"'Your cousin wrote this,' said Aunt Alexandra. 'He was a beautiful character.'

Jem: 'Is this the Cousin Joshua who was locked up for so long?'"

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"I never deliberately learned to read but somehow I had been wallowing illicitly in the daily papers."

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"He did not do the things our schoolmates' fathers did....He sat in the living room and read."

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Read the first chapter of Go Set a Watchman here!