Did she die free?' asked Jem. 'As the mountain air,' said Atticus. 'She was conscious to the last, almost. Conscious,' he smiled, 'and cantankerous.'
Are you proud of yourself tonight that you have insulted a total stranger whose circumstances you know nothing about?
Scout,' said Atticus, 'when summer comes you’ll have to keep your head about far worse things…it’s not fair for you and Jem, I know that, but sometimes we have to make the best of things, and the way we conduct ourselves when the chips are down – well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you’ll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn’t let you down. This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience – Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if I didn’t try to help that man.'
This time we aren’t fighting the Yankees, we’re fighting our friends. But remember this, no matter how bitter things get, they’re still our friends and this is still our home.
She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job not to let her make you mad.
Best way to clear the air is to have it all out in the open.
You know, I’d hoped to get through life without a case of this kind, but John Taylor pointed at me and said, ‘You’re It.'
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.
Every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess.
Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself.
Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets.
Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.