"Things are always better in the morning." These words are just one example of the many great life lessons I learned from reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. In honor of the death of Harper Lee, I've chosen my top five quotes from "To Kill a Mockingbird," and these are the lessons that they taught me.
1. "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."
This quote sums up the entire theme of the novel. While the main judgment in the book was based upon race, this quote still holds relevancy in society today. You can not judge someone without knowing what he or she has been through, where he or she comes from, or how he or he feels about the situation. It all boils down to respect. In other words, you can never really understand a person until you consider treating him or her how you would want to be treated.
2. “I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”
This quote stands out the most to me. So often, people try to place various labels on a person. A person has to be either this race or that race, this sexuality or that sexuality, introvert or extrovert, and so on. What we so often fail to remember is that we are all the same on the inside. We also were all born the same way: naked and vulnerable. So there is only one kind of folks. And that, dear friends, is plain old folks. No labels, no add ons, just folks.
3. “It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn’t hurt you.”
This is a lesson that I wish I would have learned at an earlier age. While the original context of this quote relates to a race issue, this quote reigns true in any situation. The only person's opinion of you that matters is your own. So no matter what negative thing anyone says about you, you have the power to decide whether or not it can affect you. The negative words from another person only show their insecurities.
4. "It's not time to worry yet.”
Don't worry, be happy. OK, but seriously. Do not worry about a single thing. Everything happens for a reason. If you spend all of your time worrying about the outcome of every little thing, you will miss out on all the great things that could and will happen. It isn't time to worry yet, and it never will be. Life's too short to waste it worrying your days away.
5. “Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
The quote that started it all. It's wrong to do harm to an innocent human being. The whole town spoke poorly of Tom Robinson and Boo Radley just because they were a little different than the others. It wouldn't be right to treat a stranger differently just because he or she is not like you. This whole novel is about embracing each other's differences and respecting one another. It is OK to be different.
