When I first read Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird in eighth grade, I immediately fell in love with the story. The book, for those who don’t know, is about a white man named Atticus Finch – a lawyer and widow – who does everything in his power to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. While coping with the struggle of defending a man of color, Finch passes down his morals and values to his two children Jem and Scout, all while trying to protect them from prejudice. If you haven’t read this story already, I HIGHLY suggest that you do. The issues spoken about in the narrative are greatly significant – especially with everything going on today in the world. Below are some of my favorite quotes from To Kill A Mockingbird.
1. “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.” - Atticus Finch
2. "Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I'd have the facts." – Scout Finch
3. "If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?" – Jem Finch
4. "You are too young to understand it ... but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of - oh, of your father." – Miss Maudie
5. "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it - whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash." – Atticus Finch
6. "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." – Scout Finch
7. "There are just some kind of men who - who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results." – Miss Maudie
8. "Atticus, he was real nice"
"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them." – Atticus Finch
9. "I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks." – Scout Finch
10. "People in their right minds never take pride in their talents." – Miss Maudie
11. “You just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change.” – Atticus Finch
12. “People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for.” – Judge Taylor
13. "Atticus had used every tool available to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret court of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." – Mr. Underwood
14. "It's not necessary to tell all you know. It's not ladylike -in the second place, folks don't like to have someone around knowin' more than they do. It aggravates 'em. You're not gonna change any of them by talkin' right, they've got to want to learn themselves, and when they don't want to learn there's nothing you can do but keep your mouth shut or talk their language." – Calpurnia
15. “Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.” – Atticus Finch
Have a great week lovelies ~
To read the book for free (pdf document), click on one of the two: http://www.gardenhomeslutheran.org/home/2311/3660/...
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5UPsGpxUEofMW9SX0...
If you want a hard copy of the book, choose one of the following: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-kill-a-mockingb...
