Top 500 Harper Lee Quotes (2026 Update)
Page 10 of 10

451. “Atticus said no, it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts.”

— Harper Lee

452. “Aunty said no, that’s where we got our small hands and feet.”

— Harper Lee

453. “Don’t argue with a man, especially when you know you can beat him.”

— Harper Lee

454. “When we reached the auditorium, the whole town was there except Atticus and the ladies worn out from decorating, and the usual outcasts and shut-ins.”

— Harper Lee

455. “Dill’s eyes flickered at Jem, and Jem looked at the floor. Then he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood. He went out of the room and down the hall. “Atticus,” his voice was distant, “can you come here a minute, sir?”

— Harper Lee

456. “You see, don’t you,” said Aunt Alexandra, “what comes of things like this. Don’t say I haven’t told you.”

— Harper Lee

457. “Since there was no evidence of criminal intent, he wouldn’t be above throwin’ a little dust in a juryman’s eyes.”

— Harper Lee

458. “Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time. Atticus said no, it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts.”

— Harper Lee

459. “While offering to the Lord the results of Mr. Cowper’s hallucination, or declaring it was Love that lifted her, Jean Louise shared the warmness that prevails among diverse individuals who find themselves in the same boat for one hour each week.”

— Harper Lee

460. “When Alexandra went to finishing school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning; she was never bored, and given the slightest chance she would exercise her royal prerogative: she would arrange, advise, caution, and warn. She.”

— Harper Lee

461. “Neighbours bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbour. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives.”

— Harper Lee

462. “There was a time, long ago, when the only peaceful moments of her existence were those from the time she opened her eyes in the morning until she attained full consciousness, a matter of seconds until when finally roused she entered the day’s wakeful nightmare. She.”

— Harper Lee

463. “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.”

— Harper Lee

464. “Blood is a powerful thing, bachem, never forget that.”

— Harper Lee

465. “I scurried to my room and went to bed. Uncle Jack was a prince of a fellow not to let me down. But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said.”

— Harper Lee

466. “I – it’s like this, Scout,” he muttered. “Atticus ain’t ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way.”

— Harper Lee

467. “Little Chuck Little, a hundred years old in his knowledge of cows and their habits, was halfway through an Uncle Natchell story when Miss Gates stopped him: ‘Charles, that is not a current event. That is an advertisement.”

— Harper Lee

468. “Whatcha readin’?” I asked. Atticus turned the book over. “Something of Jem’s. Called The Gray Ghost.” I was suddenly awake. “Why’d you get that one?” “Honey, I don’t know. Just picked it up. One of the few things I haven’t read,” he said pointedly. “Read.”

— Harper Lee

469. “I kicked the man swiftly. Barefooted, I was surprised to see him fall back in real pain. I intended to kick his shin, but aimed too high.”

— Harper Lee

470. “Seven o’clock and all’s well,” said Atticus. “You’ve been swearing at your aunt.” “I have not.” “She told me you had.” “I was crude, but I didn’t cuss her.”

— Harper Lee

471. “With her head on his shoulder, Jean Louise was content. It might work after all, she thought. But I am not domestic. I don’t even know how to run a cook. What do ladies say to each other when they go visiting? I’d have to wear a hat. I’d drop the babies and kill ’em.”

— Harper Lee

472. “Take him, Mr. Finch.” Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Atticus; Jem and I nearly fainted. “Don’t waste time, Heck,” said Atticus.”

— Harper Lee

473. “The same families married the same families until relationships were hopelessly entangled and the members of the community looked monotonously alike.”

— Harper Lee

474. “In the name of God, believe him.”

— Harper Lee

475. “A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly colored glass and broken Coca-Cola bottles.”

— Harper Lee

476. “You are too young to understand it,′ she said, ’but sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is more dangerous than a whiskey bottle...”

— Harper Lee

477. “He is an incredible man, she thought. A chapter of his life comes to a close, Atticus tears down the old house and builds a new one in a new section of town. I couldn’t do it. They built an ice cream parlor where the old one was. Wonder who runs it?”

— Harper Lee

478. “The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb. They.”

— Harper Lee

479. “Atticus, you’ve never laid a hand on her.” “I admit that. So far I’ve been able to get by with threats. Jack, she minds me as well as she can. Doesn’t come up to scratch half the time, but she tries.” “That’s not the answer,” said Uncle Jack. “No, the answer is she knows I know she tries. That’s what makes the difference.”

— Harper Lee

480. “There was no point to say you were sorry if you weren’t.”

— Harper Lee

481. “Conceived in mistrust, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created evil. “ – they.”

— Harper Lee

482. “Now we are both lonely, for entirely different reasons, but it feels the same, doesn’t it?”

— Harper Lee

483. “Jij bent kleurenblind, Jean Louise. Dat ben je altijd geweest en dat zul je altijd zijn. De enige verschillen die jij ziet tussen de ene mens en de andere zijn de verschillen in uiterlijk en intelligentie en karakter en dat soort dingen. Je bent nooit opgestookt om mensen als een ras te zien, en nu dat ras de brandende kwestie van deze tijd is, ben jij nog niet in staat om in rassen te denken. Jij ziet alleen mensen.”

— Harper Lee

484. “Jehovah. She catches me when I’m nearly out of my mind and lays out the avenues of my life. How can she be his sister and not have the slightest idea what goes on in his head, my head, anybody’s head? Oh Lord, why didn’t you give us tongues to explain to Aunt Alexandra?”

— Harper Lee

485. “I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things.”

— Harper Lee

486. “There was no doubt about it: Alexandra Finch Hancock was imposing from any angle; her behind was no less uncompromising than her front.”

— Harper Lee

487. “Tim Johnson was advancing at a snail’s pace, but he was not playing or sniffing at foliage: he seemed dedicated to one course and motivated by an invisible force that was inching him toward us. We could see him shiver like a horse shedding flies; his jaw opened and shut; he was alist, but he was being pulled gradually toward us.”

— Harper Lee

488. “Dr. Buford’s profession was medicine and his obsession was anything that grew in the ground, so he stayed poor.”

— Harper Lee

489. “Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but.”

— Harper Lee

490. “Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.”

— Harper Lee

491. “I wondered if anybody had ever called her “ma’am,” or “Miss Mayella” in her life; probably not, as she took offense to routine courtesy. What on earth was her life like? I soon found out.”

— Harper Lee

492. “Don’t you understand that?” “I understand that you’re a goddamned hypocrite.” “I.”

— Harper Lee

493. “But it’s okay to hate Hitler?” “It is not,” he said. “It’s not okay to hate anybody.”

— Harper Lee

494. “Miss Maudie had once let me see it: among other things, the recipe called for one large cup of sugar.”

— Harper Lee

495. “After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.”

— Harper Lee

496. “I must soon enter this world, where on its surface fragrant ladies rocked slowly, fanned gently, and drank cool water.”

— Harper Lee

497. “Yes. I’ll accept being called a snob when it comes to government. I’d like very much to be left alone to manage my own affairs in a live-and-let-live economy, I’d like for my state to be left alone to keep house without advice from the NAACP, which knows next to nothing about its business and cares less. That organization has stirred up more trouble in the past five years –.”

— Harper Lee

498. “It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks... but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.”

— Harper Lee

499. “Keberanian adalah saat kau tahu kau akan kalah sebelum memulai, tetapi kau tetap memulai dan kau merampungkannya, apa pun yang terjadi. Kau jarang menang, tetapi kadang-kadang kau bisa menang.”

— Harper Lee

500. “One of the elderly members of the class answered her: “He’s one of the Ewells, ma’am,” and I wondered if this explanation would be as unsuccessful as my attempt.”

— Harper Lee