TKM QUOTES NEW

"There’s some folks who don’t eat like us, but you ain’t called on to contradict ’em at the table when they don’t."

Calpurnia Calpurnia scolds Scout after Scout embarrasses Walter Cunningham at dinner.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view."

Atticus Finch Atticus teaches Scout about empathy after her difficult first day of school.

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

Scout Finch Scout explains how much reading means to her when Miss Caroline tells her to stop reading at home.

"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy."

Miss Maudie Miss Maudie explains why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.

"It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Atticus Finch Atticus tells Jem and Scout they may shoot bluejays but never mockingbirds.

"People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for."

Judge Taylor Judge Taylor comments on how people notice only what they expect to notice.

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

Atticus Finch Atticus explains to Scout why he must defend Tom Robinson even though the town disagrees.

"Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains why he cannot refuse Tom Robinson’s case.

"Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win."

Atticus Finch Atticus encourages Jem to keep fighting even when success seems impossible.

"Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand."

Atticus Finch Atticus teaches Jem the true meaning of courage while discussing Mrs. Dubose.

"I wanted you to see what real courage is."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains that Mrs. Dubose showed courage by fighting her morphine addiction before she died.

"Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute."

Atticus Finch Atticus tells Jem to understand Bob Ewell after the trial.

"As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains racial injustice to Jem after the guilty verdict.

"There’s just one kind of folks. Folks."

Scout Finch Scout argues with Jem about social class differences.

"Maycomb’s usual disease."

Atticus Finch Atticus describes racism in the town during Tom Robinson’s trial.

"You ain’t never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them."

Atticus Finch Atticus teaches Scout empathy and understanding.

"Atticus, he was real nice." / "Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them."

Scout Finch and Atticus Finch Scout realizes Boo Radley is kind after he saves her and Jem.

"People in their right minds never take pride in their talents."

Miss Maudie Miss Maudie explains Atticus’s humility to Scout.

"Bad language is a stage all children go through."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains Scout’s swearing phase to Uncle Jack.

"It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name."

Atticus Finch Atticus teaches Scout not to fight over insults.

"Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks."

Scout Finch Scout concludes that all people are fundamentally the same.

"I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time."

Scout Finch Scout realizes Boo hides from the cruelty of society.

"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."

Miss Maudie Miss Maudie further explains the symbolism of mockingbirds.

"It’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?"

Scout Finch Scout explains why exposing Boo Radley as a hero would harm him.

"His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me."

Scout Finch Scout realizes Boo Radley had quietly cared for her.

"The witnesses for the state… have presented themselves to you in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted."

Atticus Finch Atticus argues that prejudice, not evidence, condemns Tom Robinson.

"But there is one way in this country in which all men are created equal."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains the ideal of equality in the courtroom during his closing argument.

"She was white, and she tempted a Negro."

Atticus Finch Atticus explains Mayella Ewell’s real ‘crime’ in the eyes of Maycomb society.

"A court is only as sound as its jury."

Atticus Finch Atticus discusses justice and fairness after the trial.

"I think there’s been just one kind of folks. Folks."

Scout Finch Scout reaches maturity by recognizing shared humanity.

"You children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes for a minute."

Atticus Finch Atticus praises Scout and Jem for stopping the lynch mob.

"Hey, Mr. Cunningham. Don’t you remember me?"

Scout Finch Scout unknowingly breaks up the mob outside the jail by talking innocently.

"Thank you for my children, Arthur."

Atticus Finch Atticus thanks Boo Radley after he saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell.

"Will you take me home?"

Boo Radley Boo quietly asks Scout to walk him home after saving the children.

"Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between."

Miss Maudie Miss Maudie explains Maycomb’s sense of community.

"Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension."

Scout Finch Scout comments humorously on missionary society gatherings.

"The summer that had begun so long ago had ended."

Scout reflects on how much she and Jem matured through the events of the novel.