Harper Lee
Harper Lee
Nelle Harper Lee, better known by her pen name Harper Lee, was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960. Immediately successful, it won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Though Lee had only published this single book, in 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature. Additionally, Lee received numerous honorary degrees, though she declined to speak on those occasions. She...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth28 April 1926
CityMonroeville, AL
CountryUnited States of America
I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work.
Atticus said that Jem was trying hard to forget something, but what he was really doing was storing it away for a while, until enough time passed. Then he would be able to think about it and sort things out. When he was able to think about it, Jem would be himself again.
I try to give'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason.
Try fighting with your head for a change... it's a good one, even if it does resist learning.
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 fightin' with your head for a change. -Atticus Finch
Folks don't like to have somebody around knowing more than they do. It aggravates em. You're not gonna change any of them by talking 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.
I think Ill be a clown when I get grown.. Yes, sir, a clown. There aint one thing in this world I can do about folks except laugh, so Im gonna join the circus and laugh my head off Im gonna stand in the middle of the ring and laugh at the folks. Just looka yonder, every one of em oughta be ridin a broomstick.
From childhood on, I did sit in the courtroom watching my father argue cases and talk to juries.
Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
Before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.
Well, they're Southern people, and if they know you are working at home they think nothing of walking right in for coffee. But they wouldn't dream of interrupting you at golf.
Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don't already know the answer to . . . . Do it, and you'll often get an answer you I don't want, an answer that might wreck your case.
Everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowing.
Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon after their three o'clock naps. And by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There's no hurry, for there's nowhere to go and nothing to buy...and no money to buy it with.