Mockingbird Quotes Essay

Chapter 1Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. . . . There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself. Chapter 3 You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. Chapter 7†³As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him. â€Å"Chapter 9†³When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ’em. â€Å"†You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: 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. â€Å"†Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win†Ã¢â‚¬ Atticus said, ‘You’ve a lot to learn, Jack. ‘ ‘I know. Your daughter gave me my first lessons this afternoon. She said I didn’t understand children much and told me why. She was quite right. Atticus, she told me how I should have treated her-oh dear, I’m so sorry I romped on her. ‘† Chapter 10 â€Å"Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. â€Å"Your father’s right,† she said. â€Å"Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. † Chapter 11 It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. â€Å"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. â€Å" Chapter 13†³I never understood her preoccupation with heredity.  Somewhere, I had received the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was. â€Å"Chapter 14†³Ã¢â‚¬ËœThat’s because you can’t hold something in your mind but a little while,’ said Jem. ‘It’s different with grown folks, we-‘ His maddening superiority was unbearable these days. He did not want to do anything but read and go off by himself. â€Å"Chapter 19†³Mr. Gilmer smiled grimly at the jury. ‘You’re a mighty good fellow, it seems- did all this for not one penny? ‘ ‘Yes suh.  I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try more’n the rest of ’em-‘ ‘You felt sorry for her, you felt sorry for her? ‘ Mr. Gilmer seemed ready to rise to the ceiling. † Chapter 20†³Our courts have their faults, as does any human institution, but in this country our courts are the great levellers, and in our courts all men are created equal. † Chapter 22 They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it—seems that only children weep. Chapter 23†³Ã¢â‚¬ËœScout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside. ‘† Chapter 25 Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed. â€Å"‘Why couldn’t I mash him? ‘ I asked. ‘Because they don’t bother you,’ Jem answered in the darkness. He had turned out his reading light. â€Å"Chapter 30†³Atticus looked like he needed cheering up. I ran to him and hugged him and kissed him with all my might. ‘Yes sir, I understand,’ I reassured him. ‘Mr. Tate was right. ‘ Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me. What do you mean? ‘ ‘Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it? ‘† Chapter 31 Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. When they finally saw him, why he hadn’t done any of those things . . . Atticus, he was real nice. . . .† His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me. â€Å"Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them. † He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.